Parallel Lives
by NobleAndAncientLineBlack
Summary: Danny Potter is forever Harry's sister in everyone's eyes. To set herself apart from her twin, she decides to go to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts. But when Harry gets selected as a Triwizard Tournament champion, she can't not help him. FAMILY / ADVENTURE / ROMANCE
1. Hogwarts

_Normally I wouldn't start another story before the other one is ended but I've actually already finished this story so I don't see the point of waiting to upload it here. This story is part one of the series. The story follows Danny Potter, Harry's sister during the books JK wrote. I know a lot of other people have written stories about his sister as well but I never found a good one (Sorry if I insulted someone now, I didn't actually read all those stories) so I decided to write one myself. _

_I wrote one other story for Twilight so this is your chance to prove that you are just as nice reviewers as the Twilight fans ;) For the ones who read my other story, I promise this one isn't even close to how long the other one is. _

_I hope you'll enjoy reading the story as much as I've enjoyed writing it._

Prologue

That faithful night when Lord Voldemort was defeated, that night was the moment my life changed forever. Not a drastic change like Harry's. I didn't get a scar from having the most evil wizard of all time try to kill me, I didn't become The Chosen One, The Saviour or The Boy Who Lived. I stayed Danielle. I had just been the daughter of a great auror and healer, born in to a normal loving family. But after that night I became sister of the famous Harry Potter and from that day forward that would be all that mattered.

I was there when Voldemort decided to make my brother his mortal enemy. That was Harry's story but what was mine? Was I meant to be his side-kick for the rest of my life? Hell no!

Chapter 1

I didn't know how to tell them this. I had been a duo with Harry my whole life and he was so excited to go to Hogwarts together. We hadn't gotten our letters yet but that doesn't really matter. We all knew me and Harry would get in. At the age of one he had already defeated the most evil wizard of all times. But I too showed magic at a very young age. When I was five I got very upset with the babysitter and made her stick to the ceiling. It took hours to undo it. Even my dad had troubles with it and he's a great auror. My mother was very angry with me but when she turned around my dad was announcing to everyone in the room how proud he was. I like that memory because he said those words.

Anyway back to the matter at hand. I needed to tell my family my decision without making them angry with me. Talk about mission impossible.

The idea of going to Hogwarts next year excited me and frightened me at the same time. I was ready to learn magic, I was born ready for this. But my whole life people only looked at Harry. I was just in the package. He didn't see it that way. He hated how people adored him for something in the past he had absolutely no control over. That made it even harder. I couldn't be angry at him when he hated the attention he got even more than I did.

I on the other hand loved the spot light, I'd do anything to be in the centre of attention. Harry stands in the way of that. It's a terrible thing to say but I think I would be happier away from Harry then having to be his sidekick for the rest of our lives.

These last weeks had been nerve-racking. My parents were so happy that we were going to Hogwarts soon but I had my eye set on another school. Lately I had been reading books and leaflets about the French wizarding school 'Beauxbatons'. I don't speak French but apparently a lot of students don't in their first year. Italy doesn't have a magical school so they all go to Beauxbatons. The more I read about it, the more I wanted to be a part of that school instead of Hogwarts. I just didn't think my parents would be too happy about it.

I was going to tell them tonight. Uncle Remus and uncle Sirius were coming over and I hoped they could help me to convince my parents. If I wanted to go to Beauxbattons I had to apply for it soon.

We were eating at the table, they were talking about something that had been in The Daily Prophet today but I was too nervous to pay attention. They were laughing very loud at the point I had wanted to start up the conversation so I just let it out.

"I don't want to go to Hogwarts."

Everyone went dead quiet and stared at me. Mom looked very uncomfortable and convinced herself she hadn't heard me correctly.

"Of course you do, Danny! It's all we ever talk about."

Harry didn't seem to realise how serious I was about it. I decided to address my father, he would be the most reasonable.

"Dad, I don't want to go to Hogwarts next year. I want to go to Beauxbattons."

"Beauxbattons?" My mother's shout hurt my ears. "Why would you want to go there?"

"Yeah, Danny-girl. There's no better school than Hogwarts for learning magic. Why would you want to go somewhere else?"

So far uncle Sirius hasn't been helpful at all. I couldn't really tell them I didn't want to go to the same school as Harry. My parents would be angry and I would just hurt Harry's feelings. And nothing is worth hurting Harry for.

"I've been reading a lot about the school and I think this school is just better for me. Hogwarts is more Harry's thing."

"It's our thing!"

Harry must have realised I really wanted to go to the other school and was getting angry at me. He has a temper, even worse than mine.

"Harry, why don't you go up to your room. We have to discuss this."

"What? But, dad, this is also about me."

I could see my mother agreed with Harry but told him to listen to our father anyway.

"Now Danny, why is this so important to you? Don't you want to go to Hogwarts?"

I was glad my Dad was prepared to hear my out. I went to grab my book that I had left in the living room before dinner and crawled on his lap. No matter how old I am, I still do that. I showed him pictures of my school of choice. I got really excited talking about the country, the quiditch teams, the classes, the curricular activities and I think he saw how much I wanted this.

"Go to bed, Danny. We'll talk about it."

I said goodnight to everyone but never got to my room. When I passed Harry's room, I saw him sitting on his bed, full out glaring at me.

"Harry?"

"What do you want?"

"Are you angry with me?"

"What do you think? We've been talking about going to Hogwarts together for the past 5 years and now all of the sudden you want to go to Beauxbattons?"

"I'm sorry but I really want to go there."

"Why? What's so bad about going to Hogwarts?"

"Nothing. I would like to go to Hogwarts but not as much as I would like to go to Beauxbattons."

"But what about me?"

Harry wasn't angry anymore. He was scared. Scared of going somewhere without me. We've always done everything together. Which is probably also the reason we don't have any friends. I entered the room and sat beside him.

"You'll love Hogwarts. You'll have the Marauders Map and the invisibility cloak all to yourself. You'll make friends of your own and you won't have to share any of them with me."

He got this gleam in his eyes when I told him he could have the Marauders Map and the cloak. The map wouldn't be of any use in Beauxbatons but the mischief I could pull off with the cloak was endless. I would give it to him though. They were sort of a package and the cloak has always been passed down to the first born son in our family.

"Besides, it won't change anything between us. We're twins, Harry. Even being in a different country won't change that."

He finally admitted that it would be sort of okay for me to go to Beauxbatons. I was glad. I didn't want to go there if he wasn't okay with it.

The next day my parents told me I could go. I had never been happier in my life. Except maybe the day uncle Remus gave me my first broom. I knew my mother wasn't too happy about it but I would prove all of them in time that they had made the right decision.

_I'm a big fan of reviews so feel free to leave me some. I also accept criticism, no flames. I'm a big fan of regular updates as well, just so you know. I know it's not a Thursday today but that's the day I'll update every time, starting next week. Or maybe this one if you're really nice. This chapter only counts 1500 words but I can promise you that all the others are longer. All the chapters after chapter four, count at least 4000 words. Something to look forward to. :) _


	2. First year

_I really want to thank the person who gave me my first review for this story: __**chasm. **__I figured I'd update again this Thursday because you can't review when I've only written one chapter so I give you the second one. Please remember that I like reviews. _

Chapter 2

When our letters came a few days later, I knew there was no going back. I was now officially going to be a first year at Beauxbattons.

I spend the best summer of my life that year and on August the 30th I took a train at King's Cross to Paris. There, someone from to school was going to pick me up and bring me to my new school. Mom cried the day I left and clung to me to prevent me from leaving. Dad eventually had to pull her off me or I would have missed my train. I hugged everyone goodbye and promised I would write them every day.

I was ready for my new adventure. A whole new place where people would know me as Danny Potter and not just Harry's sister. I couldn't wait.

It turned out I had been right when I told my parents how Beauxbatons would be right for me. The school immediately felt like a second home to me. The people here were great although I couldn't understand most of them. There weren't a lot of people who spoke English. That just made me even more motivated to learn the language. I had to take extra classes to learn French. As it turns out, I'm not bad at it. After the first weeks I could already talk to my class mates and actually understand what they talk about in class.

I had already made a lot of friends at school in those first months. I got along with almost everyone but my very best friend turned out to be Noa Bastier. She has short blond, almost white hair and a very sweet smile. She stuck out from everyone else just like me. I was probably one of the only black haired people in the school except for the Italians. Practically everyone had blond hair and blue eyes but I like my brown orbs. Anyway, Noa was different because she didn't have a big mouth like all the rest. Her timid character reminded me a bit of Harry which is why I had taken an immediate liking to her and felt the need to protect her. We were practically inseparable.

Mom and Dad wrote me at least once a week, as did uncle Sirius and Remus. Harry wrote me practically every day in the beginning but once he settled in, it became less and less. That's normal I guess. I was glad he wasn't missing me as much as I thought he would but it stung at the same time.

Harry had found a best friend as well. As much as I wanted to be happy for him, I couldn't help but feel immediately jealous of this Ron Weasley. He talked about some other people in his class as well like Neville Longbottom who we had actually met before. His parents were close friends of ours before they were send to St. Mungo's. His grandmother is very scary though. The kid himself is so awkward it's painful to watch so of course he would trigger Harry's heroic feelings. There were two other boys in his year of who he said they were cool. He also talked about a girl with a strange name. She was a muggle born and apparently a know-it-all. I found that a strange combination since most muggle borns like to stay on the background but I guess she was a bit like our mother then.

The Christmas holiday approached fast. I was excited to go home and see my family. I had missed them more than I was willing to admit. Harry however had put a damper on that joy. His friend was going to be staying at Hogwarts so Harry decided to do the same. I was very upset over the fact that Harry would choose a stupid boy over me but I never actually took the chance to voice those thoughts.

Over the holidays I had found out that Harry had been accepted as seeker in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Apparently he hadn't told me because he thought I might get jealous. And I sure was. First years weren't allowed to play, yet somehow wonder boy had managed to get a special treatment, again! I, like all the normal children, had to wait until next year to try out.

The rest of the year passed incredibly fast. Before I properly realised it, June was knocking on our door. I was very grateful during the finals that I had been gifted with a brain similar to my parents'. The finals weren't as difficult as I thought they would have been. They went well except for one. The night before the last one I had the scariest dream ever.

I had been a bit feverish all evening and had decided to go to bed early. As soon as my head hit my pillow, I lost consciousness. I could hear voices in my head but everything was dark. At first I couldn't understand what they were saying but even then I could hear the fear in their voices. After what felt like several hours I could hear a name being called. The name I heard was being yelled out by a girly voice in fright.

'_Ron!'_

Wait, wasn't that the name of Harry's friend? Why would I be dreaming about him?

After that I heard murmurs and then a voice I would recognise anywhere. Why was I hearing Harry's voice in my head? I couldn't make out what he was saying.

Then I saw a light. It wasn't very bright but I could see a figure standing right in front of me. After a closer look I realised I really didn't know the man. He was talking to me but it was as though he looked right through me. I wanted to turn around to see what was behind me. Before I could, the man threw himself at me or rather through me. I heard him screaming and when I looked at him I saw his hand crumbling down.

I hadn't realised the presence of another person in the room until I looked down at the boy the man was glaring at.

"Harry!"

My brother was lying on the floor, panting as though he was fighting for his life. Maybe he was. I yelled his name once, twice, several times but he couldn't hear me. How could he? I wasn't even really there. The man lunged at Harry again. I wanted to scream and help but suddenly I was sitting up in my bed.

What had just happened?

I was shivering from head to toe and bathing in sweat. My roommates were giving my worried looks. They were gathered around my bed and were asking me if I was okay. What did that even matter?

I jumped out of bed and ran all the way to the Headmaster's dorm. I banged on her door until she finally opened.

"Miss Potter? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

I tried to explain her about my dream but I wasn't doing a very good job. In the end I just demanded that she let me go to Hogwarts. She said she couldn't do that but floo-called Dumbledore to her office when I refused to leave without knowing for a fact that my brother wasn't in any danger.

I sat there waiting an eternity until finally a tall man stepped out of the fireplace. His long white beard and his eyes that so obviously held wisdom made it very clear that he was Albus Dumbledore.

"I was very surprised to receive your message, my friend. I myself am only just aware of the events that took place in my school."

So he already knew? What am I to make of that? Was Harry alright or was he...

"Actually, Albus. I didn't know such a thing had occurred. My message only stated what Miss Potter told me."

With those words Dumbledore focused on me.

"Ah, Danielle Potter. It is quite the honour to meet you. I've heard-"

I didn't have the patience to listen to a praise. I needed to know how Harry was doing.

"Where's Harry? Is he okay? What happened and how could it even happen at Hogwarts?"

"Miss Potter, watch your tone! You do not talk to a great wizard like Albus Dumbledore like that!"

"It's quite alright. She's just worried about her brother. Harry is fine, he's resting from his efforts. Now may I ask you what has happened?"

How was I supposed to explain this to him? It didn't even make sense to me.

"I don't really know. I had... a dream about it. That's all."

"You dreamed about it? How strange. Tell me, has this happened before?"

"Dreaming something that happened? No, not really. Why?"

"How about a certain feeling when it is about Harry?"

"Sorry?"

"Well, miss Potter, what if you had this dream for a reason? What if it was Harry calling out to you in times of need?"

What? Like some SOS-button? That sounded high unlikely. But it was Harry we were talking about. Anything concerning him isn't normal. Maybe it was a possibility.

I was very relieved when I saw Harry again. It's not that I didn't believe Dumbledore when he told me Harry was fine but I definitely preferred to see it with my own two eyes. Everyone had come to King's Cross to pick me up, the Hogwarts students had already returned home yesterday. I wouldn't let Harry go for the next five minutes, just to make sure he really was fine.

All in all, it was a pretty normal year. Harry's however wasn't. I felt myself get sick when he told me about meeting Voldemort. He told me about suspecting professor Snape, which mom scolded him for, but as it turned out he was the one trying to protect Harry. That night my head still buzzed with all the stories he had told me. That was the first time in a year that I felt bad about not going to Hogwarts with him.


	3. Second year

_I want to thank __**ladyal **__and __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__for reviewing the previous chapter. Thanks, it means a lot that you took the time to review my story. _

_This fic will be about Danny's fourth year but I want you to understand the character a little better and how she affects Harry's life. That's why I'll write the first chapters about her first three years at Beauxbatons. _

Chapter 3

I was sitting with my arms crossed on the couch, pouting. We only had a few days left of the summer and they all wanted to spend it at Diagon Alley. Needless to say I was going to do everything to boycott their plan.

But that wasn't the bad part. I used to love going there because it really is such a magical place. The bad part was that we were going to meet up with the Weasleys and the Grangers, the parents of Harry's friends. I didn't want to meet them and the fact that Harry was so obviously excited about it didn't do any good.

In the end my Dad practically had to drag me into the fire place. We were going by floo. Mom and Harry had already left and I had actually made my dad chase me around the house for a few minutes.

When I tumbled out of the fire place I was immediately met with my mother's irritated face. She must have realised I had been putting up a fight against coming here. I was glad she didn't scold me, though she didn't help me up either.

I saw Harry talking to a bunch of red haired people. They looked like a plague. I didn't say that because I knew my mother would skin me alive if I did.

I was waiting patiently for Harry to introduce me but he acted as though he didn't even know me. I felt myself getting angry and decided to vend that anger on the only person who actually introduced herself to me.

"Hi, my name is Hermoine Granger. You must be Harry's sister." (she already made a big mistake there) "It's very nice to meet you."

"Hermoine Granger? Oh, so you're the annoying know-it-all."

She looked very taken aback by it and I could see Harry turning his attention to us.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude but that's the way Harry described you to me."

That wasn't entirely true. He had also told me that she was the smartest witch he had met so far and that she always helped him out. I wasn't going to tell her that though.

"Danny! Sorry Hermoine, she didn't mean it like that."

She mumbled that it was okay but turned around anyway. If his other friend was like that I'll feel really bad for Harry. How could my brother befriend these people?

"What did you do that for?"

"Well, you did tell me she was a know-it-all."

"That was before I properly knew her. You shouldn't have told her that."

Jeez, why was Harry suddenly so pissed at me? I'm his sister, it's my job is to humiliate him in front of his friends. I'd say I'm doing a great job.

The rest of the day was boring! This Ron Weasley was even lamer than the girl. I already didn't like his friends. The only fun all day was watching the Weasley twins getting scolded by their mother. Mrs Weasley could teach my mom some tricks in scolding, I really hope she doesn't though.

Oh, there was also an annoying boy in the book store who was very rude to everyone. Harry and the others seemed to know him from school. He was just about to throw another snide remark when his father came to stand beside him. I thought he was going to reprimand his son but he just joined in with the insults. Luckily my father showed up and the blond jerk didn't dare say another word. Oh right, because of the event that happened 11 years ago, my parents and especially my father are also sort of famous. Some days it really sucks that I was born into this family.

The last night before I was going to leave for school, I heard a strange noise coming from Harry's room. It sounded like he was arguing with someone but I couldn't hear another voice. Wanting to find out about what was happening, I slipped out of my room and listened at the door. Standing closer I could make out a second voice. It was really weak and sounded a bit helpless but that didn't stop Harry from being rude to the other person. That doesn't sound like Harry at all. When I heard something banging against the wall, I decided to intervene.

Opening the door I came upon a sight I hadn't expected. This little creature was banging his head against the wall and Harry was unsuccessfully trying to prevent it. The creature was very skinny and looked unhealthy. He was dressed in something I have no other word for than a slag. The house elf looked utterly miserable trying to punish himself. When they both noticed my presence he stopped.

"What is going on here? Are you hiding a house elf in your room?"

"No, he just showed up here and he's been banging his head against the wall the entire time. Apparently he disobeyed his master by being here. He also keeps babbling about how good of a person I am."

I had to roll my eyes when I heard that, I just had to. Of course even house elves adore him. I made my way into his room and closed the door behind me. I sat on Harry's bed and turned my attention to the little creature in front of us.

"Hi, I'm Danny. What's your name?"

The house elf looked at me in wonder and before I even realised it, tears were streaming down his face. What had I done? I was being nice for once.

"Miss Potter is also so nice, too nice for old Dobby."

And then he started hitting himself with the lamp. What the hell? Harry just shrugged when I looked at him. I guess he couldn't make more sense out of this either. We both tried to calm him down and after 10 minutes he had finally stopped damaging his head and his tears had dried up.

"Now Dobby, what are you doing here?"

"I came to warn Mr Potter. There is great danger ahead of you, sir."

Harry just said that that always seemed to be the case but Dobby's words had send shills down my spine. I asked him what he meant by that. He looked up at us with his big tennis ball eyes.

"If Mr Potter goes to Hogwarts this year, he will die."

Dobby would only leave when Harry told him he would be alright for the tenth time. He never once said he wouldn't go to Hogwarts. When Dobby left we sat next to each other on his bed in silence.

"What are you thinking?" I asked him.

"I'm thinking that... Dobby is insane. He probably wasn't allowed out of the house because he might hurt himself."

"What? He wasn't allowed to leave because he might warn you of the dangers in front of you."

"Danny, you don't actually believe what he said, right?"

"Why not? You getting in a life-threatening situation doesn't sound that unlikely to me. It wouldn't be the first time."

I didn't understand how he could be so calm under the circumstances. Dobby practically told him he was going to die and he didn't even think twice about it.

"Harry? Don't go to Hogwarts. You could swap schools and come to Beauxbatons instead. You'd be safe there."

I was willing to give up my safe haven, the only place where I was more than Harry's sister just to make sure he would be okay. I'd do it in a heartbeat.

"Danny, I'm going to Hogwarts. It's my second home. I can't imagine not going there this year. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I already faced Voldemort twice and lived to tell the tale. What could possibly be worse?"

I couldn't answer that. He was right about nothing being worse than what he went through last year. But it was just a terrible reminder of how I had been incapable of protecting him. What if something would happen again this year and he wouldn't be okay?

I had been right. During my second year at Beauxbatons stories came to our ears about the terrors happening at Hogwarts. The supposedly heir of Slytherin had come back to Hogwarts to open a certain Chamber of Secrets and started slaughtering every muggleborn and half-blood in the place. As far as I knew Harry still hadn't turned into a statue which was starting to be a hit at the castle. I think he had it worse though. Everyone at Hogwarts was starting to think he was this heir, killing innocent students. The idea was idiotic. Harry is incapable of hurting other people and we're the descendants of Gryffindor, not Slytherin.

He wrote me more often that year, partially because he had the feeling the whole castle was afraid of him. Even his friends thought there was something fishy about him. Some friends they are. It made me sad that this year had turned out worse than last year but what really hurt was that it was the only reason he wrote to me these days.

The fear that lived in my heart for my brother was a permanent presence through the whole year. I helped him with solving the mystery at Hogwarts through my letters but begged him every time to stay out of it. Of course he didn't listen to me.

The day the letter came with the news that his friend, the Granger girl had been petrified was the day I felt it again. That uneasiness I had felt last year before Harry had been in danger. The words Dumbledore had spoken to me on that day came flooding back to me.

'_What if it was Harry calling out to you in times of need?'_

Had he been right? Was Harry in danger again? I couldn't afford to not take this at heart. What if Dumbledore was right and I didn't do anything about it? I rushed back to the Headmistress to demand once again to contact Dumbledore. After a discussion she realised I wasn't going away and called for him. He reassured me that Harry was just fine. He told me that Harry was packing his things like the other students because the school was closing. He didn't want to tell me the reason for it though.

I went back to my classes reassured but the unnerving feeling stayed. I was cranky all day, not realising how wrong everything was until I blacked out in the middle of class.

It was a very strange experience. I was just sitting in class, listing to the boring speech our professor was treating us to when all sound disappeared. I couldn't hear what was being said anymore. But then I heard another sound, one that clearly didn't come from the room I was in. The voice introduced itself as Tom Marvolo Riddle. In itself not really scary but the sound of his voice made my heart clench in fear. I wanted to get up because it was as if I knew what was going to happen. I blacked out before my head hit the table in front of me.

I felt myself being lifted out of my body and felt something sucking me in the direction the voice was coming from. I found myself in a hallway leading up to an open space where a boy stood. He seemed to be 17 years old but there was something in his eyes that told me he wasn't just another teenager. He was urging something on. I didn't see anyone else but him though. That was until I looked down. A girl lay unconscious at his feet. I recognised her as the little girl from the Weasley family who had some sort of infatuation with Harry. I tried to help her but my hand went through her as if I were a ghost. The boy didn't do anything to help her. He was looking up at a statue behind me. What could possibly be so important?

When I looked around I also forgot about the Weasley girl on the floor. How could I not? Harry was fighting a giant snake right in front of me. I wanted to help him so badly but I couldn't do anything for him. I wasn't really there so what could I possibly do?

I let out a terrified scream when that snake thing pierced his fang through my brother's arm. I saw Harry stumble back and hit his head on the stone behind him. In that moment everything became fussy to me again. There were so many different images swirling around in my head that it was difficult to figure out which ones were happening right now. I saw Harry gripping the sword in his hand slightly, I saw a giant spider charging at me, Harry pierced the sword through the head of the snake, a girl was lying petrified in a hospital bed and then the teenager screamed and exploded right in front of me. That caused the images to slow down and all I saw after that was Harry dropping on his knees next to the girl.

"You did well. I just wasn't fast enough."

He was talking to the bird who looked back at him as though he understood. When had that bird arrived? And...was the bird crying? As his tears hit Harry's wound, my vision became fuzzy again. I stretched out my hand to Harry but it was already too late. Everything had gone black again.

When I woke up in the hospital wing I didn't even have to ask about Harry because he was standing right next to my bed. I wanted to hug the living daylight out of him but the minute I tried to sit up, my vision got blurry again. I fell back on my cushion without really wanting to.

"You hit your head pretty badly."

He was one to talk. There were cuts all over his body and he had a bandage on his right hand while I only had one on my head. But overall he still looked pretty alive as well as pleased with himself if the grin was anything to go by. He told me Dumbledore had sent him here after hearing I had blacked out. I told him about what had happened during my dream or vision or whatever it was. In turn he told me the full story. (which you all know)

"So Dobby was right."

"Not really because I didn't die, did I?"

He seemed to find it funny but I didn't. Thinking of Dobby, what had happened to him? I knew he had almost killed Harry a few times in his attempts to help him but where was the little house elf now? I could tell by the way Harry talked about Dobby that the little creature had grown on him.

"He was Malfoy's elf but he's a free elf now."

Malfoy? Wasn't that the blond annoying git we met at the book store? Wait, did that mean it was Malfoy who tried to kill Harry? When I asked him that, he just shrugged as if it was nothing.

Harry stayed with me for another hour but had to return to his school. That was okay. There were only a few weeks left and then we'd spend the summer together. Now that I knew he was safe, I could fall asleep again and start studying afterwards. The worst part was that Harry didn't have to take exams this year because of the whole thing with the heir of Slytherin while I did. So unfair.


	4. Third year

_Thank you __**Agent-Batman159, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx and ladyal **__for reviewing the previous chapter. I'm always happy to hear people are reading and enjoying my story. :)_

Chapter 4 

One night during summer between our second and third year we sat down because our parents had bad news. I thought it was like a great-great aunt or something passing away but this hit a lot closer to home. You see, when my dad and his friends went to Hogwarts they had another friend named Peter Pettigrew. He was very stupid and fat according to uncle Sirius. He always gets angry when Pettigrew's name is mentioned. But when the wizarding war was going on he was there for them and they trusted him. What a stupid mistake to make. During that war Voldemort had made clear that he wanted to get rid of Harry for some unknown reason. So my parents needed someone to act as safe-keeper or something and they eventually chose Pettigrew. And he betrayed them. It was the night of Halloween. Our parents went to this party and our grandparents babysat us, my dad's parents. We don't really know the full story since Harry and I were too young to remember it. But we do know that Voldemort came bursting through our front door and the only reason that could have happened was if Pettigrew told him where we lived. He killed our grandparents but somehow failed to do the same to us. That was the night he disappeared or died. We don't really know what happened to him.

Anyway, back to the bad news. Pettigrew was captured and sent to Azkaban after his betrayal but somehow found a way out after 12 years. The minister himself had come to talk to our parents about it. He's afraid the man is seeking for revenge and might attempt an attack on Harry. I wanted to accept the protection they were offering us but my family had already refused it. I don't know why. You would think my family liked to stay alive but once again they think they can do it all by themselves.

I guess in a way they were right. Nothing really happened to us until August the 30th. It was one day before I was leaving again for France. Me and Harry were home alone that night when the doorbell rang. We had no idea who could be knocking on our door. Our parents were at some fancy party where Remus and Sirius would also be. So it couldn't be any of them. Brave as we are we first checked who it was through the window but neither of us recognised the woman. She was a bit chubby with red hair and a friendly face. We decided there was no danger in letting her in. In a way we were wrong. She may not have been out to kill us but she was set on writing a juicy story on Harry in the Daily Prophet.

Her name was Betty Braithwaite and she was very good at sucking up to people. Too bad for her such a thing doesn't work on the Potter twins. We had let her in and sat down in the living room. She just kept going on and on about what a big fan she was from Harry. It was very boring to listen to. Harry was getting pissed at her as well but then she made a very big mistake in her quest to find some gossip.

She wanted Harry to bitch about his family. She started making wild assumptions that made my blood boil and not just mine.

"It mustn't be easy to share the attention with your father. After all it was you who vanquished the famous dark wizard and not your father."

I didn't like what she was implying so instead of hearing her out, I decided to go and find something to eat in the kitchen. I could still hear her annoying voice though.

"And apparently your mother isn't any better. I heard she was born from muggles. Such a miracle you didn't turn out to be much like your mudblood mother."

I dropped my bowl on the floor and it shattered into million little pieces when she said that foul word. I wanted to strangle her in that moment. How dare she speak of my mother like that! How can Harry allow it? At least that was what I thought until I heard her screams coming from the living room. I quickly rushed over to them to see the 'lady' had swollen up to an impossible size.

"What did you do?"

But Harry didn't respond. He just kept glaring at the woman and she just kept getting bigger and bigger. She was the size of a hot air balloon by now. And a hot air balloon was exactly what she acted like. She started to go up to the ceiling as if she was filled with helium. Me and Harry started to back out now. What was happening?

Because I had been so busy with staring at the giant woman, I hadn't noticed that our double doors to the garden were open on a hot night like this one. When she started to bounce off the ceiling, she began to make her way to the doors involuntarily. Before me or Harry could stop her, she had bounced outside. She kept screaming for help the entire time but we were both too frozen with shock to help her. Only when she was just a spot on the horizon did Harry move. He grabbed our coats and pulled me out of the house.

"How did you do that? I mean, you weren't even holding your wand. How could you possibly have done that?"

"I don't know. I was just so angry and the next thing I knew she was swelling up."

Harry had dragged me all the way to the outskirts of town. Where was he going? He finally sat down on the curb and dropped his head in his hands.

"Harry?"

I had been so riled up that I hadn't even noticed how upset Harry was. I sat down next to him and put my arm around his shoulder.

"Harry, you didn't do anything wrong."

"What? Weren't you there just now? I made a woman float away. That's the kind of thing the ministry punishes you for."

"Surely you won't get send to Azkaban for this."

Harry looked me in the eye as if trying to say that he would. That would be stupid. Harry Potter, the boy-who-doesn't-hurt-a-fly, pining away in a cell with the rapists and murderers. He sighed and mumbled that I didn't get it. He tried to get up but I was still holding him. Somehow that made him trip and he ended up sprawled on the ground.

"What is that?"

Before I could ask Harry what he was talking about, I heard a honk behind me. I turned around and came face to face with a purple bus. That definitely wasn't there before and it hadn't been anywhere near either. How did that bus wind up here so fast?

"Welcome at the Knight bus. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for the night." A man read off a note.

He wasn't very attractive and the scowl on his face just made it worse. The bus however was very impressive. It was 3 storages high and invisible to muggles judging by the teenage girls at the end of the street. They didn't look like they just saw a magical bus appear.

"Well, what is it going to be? Do you want to buy a ticket or not?"

Before I could answer that we didn't need one, Harry had already pulled out enough sickles to buy two tickets. He pulled me on the bus and not even a second later the bus took off at an incredible high speed.

The entire bus was swinging from left to right and had I not been holding on to one of the many beds in the bus, I would have flown out the window.

"So what did you say your names were again?"

"We didn't!" I snapped.

"Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger."

What the hell! That is not my name! Why was Harry lying? Maybe because he didn't want another person fawning all over him because he's The-Boy-Who-Lived. I saw he wasn't paying attention to the man anymore but to the front page of the Daily Prophet in his hands.

There was a giant picture of Peter Pettigrew, the man who betrayed our parents. He was shouting into the camera and looked completely bonkers to me. Stan caught Harry staring intently at the photo.

"Don't you know who he is? That's Peter Pettigrew. One of the most faithful deadeaters of You-Know-Who. You know who he is, don't you."

Harry nodded slightly. We spend the rest of the ride in an uncomfortable silence. Eventually the bus stopped which made me and Harry fall flat on our faces.

"Here we are, the Leaky Cauldron."

Huh? When had Harry told him where we were going? I didn't even know what we were doing here. I got out in time with Harry and when I looked back the Knight bus was already gone. Weird...

Before Harry gave me the chance to say anything, he pulled me inside of the Leaky Cauldron. Once we entered the bar, Tom made his way over to us.

"Well, hello there. We've been expecting you."

I wanted to ask him what he meant by that but he was already showing us the way upstairs. When we came to room 15, Tom knocked on the door and pushed us inside when a voice answered.

I can't say I wasn't surprised when I saw the minister of Magic sitting in a chair in one of the rooms of the Leaky Cauldron while petting Harry's owl. How the hell had Hedwig end up here?

"You've had us all very worried, Mr Potter. Someone like you shouldn't roam the streets at night, especially now." Fudge said.

What was that supposed to mean? And why was the man only talking to Harry? Am I invisible or something?

"Well, we're just glad to see that you're safe. You must be exhausted. I've taken the liberty to contact your parents. Until they arrive, feel free to use this room to rest. Good Evening, Harry Potter."

Yep, I'm becoming pretty sure I'm invisible and that pisses me off to no end. I sit down on the bed with a frown on my face while Harry is still standing there.

"He didn't say anything about blowing up Betty Braithwaite."

"I told you so." I grinned.

He just smiled tiredly at me and when I steered him to the bed, he let me. He must have been really tired because he fell asleep a little while after he lay down. Unfortunately for me I was still awake when 2 angry parents came bursting through the door, our parents. They were very angry, even Dad and it takes a lot for us the get him mad. I guess they were just really worried. That night we stayed at the Leaky Couldron and the next day I left for another year at Beauxbatons.

That was the year I had my first crush on a boy named Jonathan Berkham. Even though I have a pretty big mouth, I was too chicken to admit the way I felt for him so I could only admire him from a distance. Fortunately for me, he wasn't afraid of approaching me and by the end of the year we had developed a friendship with the prospect of turning into something more.

I wondered if Harry was going through the same things as I was. Had he found someone he liked, did he have to worry about people gossiping behind his back because one of the popular boys noticed him? Well, girls in his case, I think. But Harry didn't have time for such things. He had to worry about a maniac trying to kill him. Peter Pettigrew had been spotted in Hogsmeade and even at Hogwarts itself. The ministry had send dementors to protect the students but that didn't make me feel any better. Dementors are vile things who'll try to suck the life out of you if you're not careful and my dislike for them only grew when Harry told me one of them had tried to attack him. Luckily that was prevented by uncle Remus.

That's right, Uncle Remus was the professor Defence Against The Dark Arts this year at Hogwarts. I was really glad for him because it's hard to find a job due to his Lycanthropy. I also envied Harry a bit because he was going to be taught by him and uncle Remus is really smart. When Harry told me Remus was teaching him how to defend himself against Dementors, I took a trip to the library just to prove to myself I could summon a patronus as well. I can't.

I was making my way to the common room when Harry's SOS-button went into overdrive. An overwhelming wave of dizziness hit me and I had to hold on to the wall to keep myself from collapsing onto the floor. Last time I was met with complete darkness but this time the brightness in front of me was blinding. Different shades of yellow were dancing in front of my eyes and it took me a while before I could make out figures. I saw three people sitting in a little house while two other people were watching them. My head was spinning really fast now. How could Harry and that girl be at two places at the same time? The images in front of me got darker and darker until I saw Harry and Remus. They were pointing their wands at someone whose face I couldn't see properly. And...what were Snape and uncle Sirius doing in that shady room? Why was Snape unconscious? I couldn't give much thought to it because then Sirius was screaming at Remus. What had caused that? I didn't have to see the full moon to know Remus was transforming. He looked completely out of it and screamed out in pain. Peter Pettigrew was suddenly there as well and he changed into a rat. Then I saw Harry running through the forest surrounded by swirling figures that looked to me like dementors. I needed to help him, Harry needed my help! I was yelling 'expecto patronus' in my mind while Harry was doing the same out loud and suddenly I was blinded by the light of a patronus. But before I could make out what form Harry's patronus was, I saw him falling.

"_Miss Potter, are you okay?"_

The images were gone the moment professor Derieux touched my arm. I stared at him bewildered. When he repeated his question to me, I bolted. I don't think I've ever ran as fast as I did in that moment. My lungs were on fire and my legs felt as though they were going to fall apart but that all seemed so small compared to the danger Harry was in. When I made it to the Headmistress' office, I didn't even knock.

"_Are you going to make a habit out of this, Miss Potter?"_

After some hysteric screaming, she allowed me to go to Hogwarts after Dumbledore gave me his consent. When I stumbled out of his fire place I didn't even have to ask him the question that had been burning on my lips.

"Mr Potter is fine. I must tell you however, Miss Potter, you're getting more accurate every time we meet. Will you follow me? Harry has requested to see you."

Harry had asked for me? That made me very happy to hear. Once Dumbledore noticed my impatience he led me to the hospital wing of the castle. Even though it was the first time I was at Hogwarts, I couldn't have cared any less. The hallways were indeed magnificent to behold but my mind was only focused on Harry. When we finally made it to the hospital Wing, I rushed to his side. I didn't even pay attention to Weasley and Granger who had been sitting next to him.

I don't know what I had expected but it wasn't a smile on his face. He looked completely fine, he didn't even have a scratch. That's when I hit him.

"Jeez, Danny! What the hell are you doing? What's wrong with you?"

"That's for making me worry about you, idiot!"

After I calmed down, I sat next to him and let him explain everything that happened to him. I had to give the girl a shocked look when he told me about the time turner. I didn't think she had it in her to break the rules.

"And then I saw you."

"Wait, what! How could you have seen me?"

"I don't know how but I know I did. When I was surrounded by all the dementors, I tried to summon a patronus but I couldn't."

"Yes, you did. I saw you."

"There was a patronus indeed but it wasn't mine. My patronus takes the form of a stag and the patronus I saw was an eagle."

He was looking at me, waiting for me to tell him my patronus was the shape of an eagle.

"I'm not capable to form a complete patronus, Harry. It's just fog with me."

"It was you, I know it was you! I heard your voice calling out to me."

What he was saying, made me think. I had yelled his name and I had tried to summon a patronus when Harry was surrounded by Dementors. But how could I possibly have been there? I was at Beauxbatons, 700 miles away.

When Dumbledore came back to send me to Beauxbatons, I took the time to take in the beauty of Hogwarts. It truly was a impressive school.

"Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Harry thinks he saw me summon a patronus while I tried to do so at my school. But how could such a thing be possible? I was in France."

"Your body may have been at Beauxbatons but your mind was right here, with Harry. My guess is that as your wizarding skills are growing so is the bond between the two of you. Harry is already a great wizard, Miss Potter and there isn't a doubt in my mind that you are a great witch as well. The connection between you and Harry is unlike anything the wizarding world has ever encountered before."

In other words: he had no idea what the hell happened today.

In the end Peter Pettigrew got away but no one has heard from him since that night. My dad was proud that Remus and Sirius hadn't done something stupid like kill Pettigrew but I knew from Harry that they had tried. Luckily he had been able to stop them or else 1/3 of our family would be behind bars right now. I don't know what the following years have in store for me and Harry but I do know this. No matter how far we will be apart, I will always stand by his side.


	5. Quidditch World Cup

_Thank you __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__for you review. This chapter is longer than the previous ones and all the others following it will be as well. I hope you like it. Feel free to let me know and review, it will be very much appreciated. _

Chapter 5

Today was the day. I had looked forward to this since the end of the past school year. We would be leaving for the Quidditch World Cup today. Of course I had seen Quidditch competition before but this was the world cup! Right here in England! It was the game of the year: Bulgaria against Ireland and even though Viktor Krum is the epitome of a brilliant seeker, Ireland has a stronger team. We would be staying for three days. The four of us were going to share a tent: me, Harry, dad and uncle Sirius. Mom isn't into Quidditch and would just be bored the entire time. Such a mood would ruin our trip so I'm sort of glad that she isn't coming with us. Uncle Remus had found a new job in a muggle store and had to work. He's not a big fan of the greatest sport in the world either, don't ask me why, so he wasn't really disappointed that he couldn't make it.

Unfortunately Harry had to ruin the whole thing. Once again we were going to spend time with the Weasleys and that awful brainiac. I don't know why we had to go to the World Cup with those people but mom had found it a wonderful idea so it happened. We were going to meet them at the portkey that would take us to the World Cup. There was going to be another family as well but I already forgot their last name.

As promised we were ready way too early in the morning to leave. Mom was getting all emotional for some reason so dad had to comfort her first. That's exactly the reason we were the last ones at the portkey. Everyone said hi to everyone and introductions were made. Diggory was apparently the name of the other family. It was just the father and the son. Let me correct that: the yummy son. I swear the guy was gorgeous and I wasn't the only one who had noticed. The stupid muggleborn and the only female Weasley were eying him up as well. Oh please, if the guy hadn't even noticed me, there is no way he would be looking at them. I was right he wasn't, he was looking at me. I was secretly jumping up and down in my head.

"Hey, I didn't know Harry had a sister."

If that was his way of chatting me up, he was failing miserably. There are two things I really don't want to hear people say when they meet me for the first time. The first one is referring to me as 'Harry's sister', which he did, and the other one was talk about Harry instead of me. Double check. The boy just lost his status of potential weekend flirt and became jerk of the day instead. Before I could give the boy a witty reply, his father interrupted.

"Harry Potter? THE Harry Potter?"

And I hate his father as well. What is up with all this people who can only talk about Harry? My brother shook the man's hand and took all the praising in with a smile. A very fake smile if you ask me but I seemed to be the only one who noticed it.

"I've heard you're a very good quidditch player so I was really surprised when Cedric told me he was the only one who ever defeated you."

Defeated Harry? What was that man talking about? Harry has never lost a game since he joined the Gryffindor team. Had this Cedric Diggory been spreading lies about him?

"Dad, that doesn't really count. Harry passed out because of the dementors on the field last year."

Dementors on the playing field? Harry passing out during a game? How come I don't know anything about this? Harry's guilty look made it clear to me he had deliberately left out that part when I had asked him about the entire year.

"Passed out or not, you still caught the snitch before he did which makes you the better seeker."

What was wrong with that man! Of course Harry can't catch the snitch when he fainted because he fainted!

"Of course he caught the snitch that way. The opponent fainted! If Harry would have actually been in the game, there is no way your son would have caught the snitch. Nobody defeats Harry!"

I was aware the people were staring at me but I couldn't help myself. Why was that man boasting about some victory that wasn't even deserved? Harry seemed a bit taken aback as well but also pleased. I don't stand up for my brother on a daily basis, that's why.

"You have to forgive my daughter. Sometimes she opens her mouth, before she thinks."

Pff, why was Dad apologising to that man? I wasn't listening anymore to what the people around me were saying. I was really glad when suddenly everyone started walking up a hill.

"That was nice of you."

Huh? Why was the Granger girl talking to me?

"I mean standing up for Harry. There aren't a lot of people who do that for him."

"Of course I'd do that. I'm his sister."

She didn't have to say the words for me to understand what she was trying to tell me. She thought I was the biggest bitch on the planet and was surprised to hear me actually saying something nice about Harry. She didn't get the relationship between me and my brother at all.

We finally made it up the hill and were staring down at the portkey. Mr Weasley said it was almost time to leave so everyone crouched down and touched the dirty and worn out boot. I felt this tugging behind my navel and it made me sick to my stomach. Judging by the looks on the other people's faces, they didn't enjoy the feeling either.

Suddenly I hit the ground, hard. My head was still spinning a little so I thought it would be best if I didn't stand up too soon. The other people were scattered on the floor around me as well except the adults and the Diggory kid. The five of them softly landed on the ground. I guess it needs a little bit of practise before you get the hang of it. I hadn't gotten up yet and just when I was about to, a hand appeared in front of me. I was a bit surprised that Diggory would extend his hand to me but I accepted it anyway.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled at me. "So you're name is Danny?"

I just nodded. After the little incident earlier I no longer felt the need to have a conversation with this guy.

"I'm Cedric."

I wanted to say something snappy like 'I already knew that' but the truth is I hadn't known that. I had been too angry earlier to pay attention to the introductions. I just quickly looked at him so he knew I had heard him.

"You don't go to Hogwarts, do you? I would have known if that was the case."

As if the guy knew everything that happened at his school. I bet he didn't know Harry fought dementors last year but I don't think it's a good idea to mention that to him. In a way he was right though. If I went to Hogwarts, it wouldn't have gone unnoticed since I am after all Harry Potter's sister.

"I go to Beauxbatons."

"Really? That's pretty cool. How come?"

Why was this guy so persistent on making conversation with me? Wasn't there someone else he could harass? Probably not, they would all love it too much if he talked to them.

"I don't like Hogwarts."

That was a lie, obviously. But I don't know the guy well enough to announce to him I didn't want to go to the same school as Harry. He probably wouldn't understand it anyway. He's a little Harry Potter admirer as well, just like everyone else.

"Why don't you like Hogwarts?"

Jeez, I didn't feel like keeping up the unpleasant conversation at all and luckily we finally made it to the camping site. The others were getting excited as well but there was no one screaming at the top of their lungs like I was.

"Quidditch world Cup! Oh My God! Best day of my LIFE!"

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little?" Uncle Sirius cockily smiled at me.

"No way!" I screamed excitedly in his ear.

I followed my Dad over to a woman, at a desk, in the middle of the forest. Magic can be really weird sometimes. Dad told her our names, she squealed, asked Harry and my dad for an autograph, practically fell at their feet and then finally let us go and look for our spot on the camping site. Why couldn't we just use uncle Sirius' last name? That would attract a lot of different attention but at least it would be something different for once.

We eventually found our spot on the camping site and quickly put up our tent. It was of course magically enlarged so I would actually have some privacy. I practically had my own room in the tent this way. Apparently it had been decided, without my knowledge or consent, that we were having lunch with the Weasleys. Jezus, that family was turning into some sort of unwanted relatives your parents force you to be nice to.

"Ha, you've made it. Please, sit down. Ginny and Hermoine have taken it on their selves to cook us a wonderful meal."

"They shouldn't have. Danny, why don't you go and see if you can help them?"

My dad made it sound like a question but I couldn't really tell him no. I reluctantly made my way over to their tent but stopped when I heard some whispering behind it. When I got closer to it, I could make out what the two voices were saying.

"Roddy Pontner will be at the beer tent in one hour. We have to make sure the others don't notice our absence while we go and place our bets."

I got a big grin on my face when I understood what the Weasley twins were talking about. It's illegal to place bets when you're a minor and those two were definitely still minors.

"What do we have here? If I didn't know any better I would say you guys are up to some illegal mischief."

It was quite the funny sight to see both redheads look like two deers caught in headlights. I think I might have seen a blush on one of them but I can't really be sure.

"What's it to you anyway?" one of them snapped at me.

"Well, whatever it is... can I get in?"

That is exactly the reason I was hanging out with the Weasley twins at the beer tent. The two boys had been sort of obligated to take me with them because I said I'd tell their father if they didn't. They had told the others they were going to show me their fungus collection. That ensured us that no one would go in the tent and check on us but I did get a strange look from Harry when I announced my interest in fungus.

"So is this guy reliable? You wouldn't be the first ones to win a bet but never get their money."

They ensured me that this Roddy Pontner could be trusted but the moment I saw the man come in, I changed my mind about placing a bet. There was just a very suspicious aura about him and there is no way I'm trusting him with my money. The twins didn't seem to share my opinion because they bet a very large amount of money and on what! They said the Irish team would win but the Bulgarian seeker would catch the snitch. Usually the team that catches the snitch wins so I'm pretty sure they just lost all their money. They told me about their grand idea. Their plan was to open a joke shop on Diagon Alley. If you ask me their dream seems quite impossible but at least it was an exciting one. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed their company despite the fact they were related to Harry's best friend but that was soon forgiven when they told me about all the pranks they had already pulled on their little brother.

"How was the fungus?"

Harry's tone insinuated that he didn't believe our excuse to get out once we got back. That doesn't really surprise me since we supposedly spend three hours in the tent. No one in his sane mind would spend that much time checking out fungus. I didn't mind Harry knowing about where we just came from and neither did the twins so we just told him. He seemed surprised that we actually seemed to be getting along but was too busy listening to the twins' unclear explanation to bring it up.

Finally it was time to make our way over to the stadium. I was practically jumping up and down from excitement. I still couldn't believe we were going to see the Quidditch World Cup! I was glad to see the others were just excited as me. It would be a little strange if I was the only giddy one. As it turns out the Weasley twins are just as crazy about Quidditch as me. I'm really starting to appreciate these boys' company.

Before we made it to our seats at the top, we had an extremely unfortunate encounter. My dad and Sirius weren't with us so it was just the Weasleys, the bookworm, Harry and me when we ran into the Malfoys. I only know their name because Harry spat it out when we ran into them. We had been talking about our seats, when we had heard a voice behind us.

"Let's just put it this way: when it rains, you'll be the first to know."

The blond boy was kind of handsome but the sneer on his face made him a lot uglier. He seemed vaguely familiar to me but I couldn't place him. My dislike for him grew when he boasted about his seat being in the minister's box.

"There is no need to brag in front of these people, Draco"

Now I remember. It was the father and son we had come across once in the bookstore at Diagon alley. They were just as rude now as they had been back then. Before we had the chance to say something back, a voice announced that the game was going to begin and the blond jerks left. We made our way over to our seats and despite Malfoy's words, they rocked. We could see everything so clearly. Fred even screamed he saw the sweat on Krum's face but I think he was exaggerating a little. I was hit with astonishment when Fred and George's predicament came true. They were now the owners of 500 sickles. They were excitedly screaming in my ear that that was exactly the amount they needed to start up their little project.

We had made it back to the camping and we decided to stay a while at the Weasley's tent ( I really mean Harry, Sirius and Dad because I wanted to go celebrate with the Irish). The twins were teasing Ron with his infatuation with Victor Kruml – if you ask me he's a little gay but just hasn't come out of the closet yet – when we suddenly heard loud noises coming from outside. Dad and Mr Weasley went outside to go and check on what was going on.

"Sounds like the Irish are having a wild party." Fred laughed.

"It's not the Irish! Pack your things!"

Mr Weasley sounded panicked and that unnerved me. Dad wasn't very comforting either.

"Harry, Danny, I have to go and help. Stay together and whatever happens, don't get involved."

We quickly nodded and he left the tent, followed by uncle Sirius. What was going on? I couldn't contain my curiosity and went outside to see what was happening. People were running around and screaming. The whole atmosphere reminded me of a natural disaster. It was only a few seconds later that I saw the source of the screaming. Along the field there were men dressed in black cloaks walking around. They had a mask on that I recognised as a Death Eater's mask. Why were there Death Eaters here? I thought the ministry had gotten rid of them years ago.

It was only then that I saw four figures floating in the air. Someone said they were the family that owned the field the event was taking place on. They were muggles. They were screaming for someone to help them and probably didn't understand what was happening to them.

Out of the blue someone pushed me out of the way. Just in time because the tent we had been in, had caught fire. Due to all the people running around in panic, I lost Harry. Damn, I promised Dad we'd stay together. I went out to search for him but couldn't find him anywhere. Harry was gone.

The next two hours were the worst of my life so far. I don't panic easily but the idea that Harry was in trouble made my heart race and not in the good way. I had finally found back some of the Weasleys but they also didn't know where my brother was. This was bad. Not only had I not taken care of him like my Dad had asked me to, but people with a reputation of wanting to kill Harry were running around in the neighbourhood. I left the Weasleys behind to search the rest of the field where people were gathering.

"Have you seen my Dad?"

The boy I had met earlier was doing the same thing as me: harassing complete strangers to find your family. Over the crowd, our eyes locked and he started making his way over to me.

"Hey, you didn't happen to see my dad, did you?"

"No, I'm actually looking for Harry. Have you seen him?"

"Sorry, I haven't. Maybe we could look for them together?"

I reluctantly agreed. Even if I didn't like the guy all that much, we would have more success looking for Harry and his father together.

We had been wandering the site for 20 minutes now and we hadn't found either yet. I didn't want to admit it but I was starting to get restless. Being all alone at the burned down site gave me shills. Suddenly, out of the blue, we saw a green light rising in the air.

"What is that?"

The boy didn't answer me but just kept staring at the sky. The green light had started to form a figure and it wasn't a pretty one. Why would anyone want a green skeleton with a snake drawn into the sky?

"It's the Death Eaters' sign."

How did the boy know that? Death Eaters were from before our time and I'm pretty sure most libraries don't keep books about their habits.

"They used to conjure it at a house whenever they had killed the people in it. It's a warning to all the others, to make them afraid."

"Does...Does that mean that someone's dead?"

"Maybe, I mean that's what it used to mean."

We looked at each other for a moment and I knew we both thought the same thing. What if it was someone we knew? What if it was the person we were looking for? We heard shouts coming from the place the sign had been conjured and red lights. I didn't even have to look at the boy to know he was right on my heels when I started running in the direction the noise came from. I just hope Harry is alright.

"Stop! That's my son!"

When we arrived at the little get-together, I saw three persons being surrounded by people from the ministry. When Mr Weasley told them one of them was his son, they lowered their wands. Good, because there is no doubt in my mind that one of those figures is my brother even if I couldn't clearly see them. I just knew it.

"Which one of you conjured the sign? Who was it?" One of the men yelled at the three and grabbed one of them by the collar.

The face of the boy he grabbed was illuminated and it proved me right, it was Harry. How dare that man talk to Harry like that? As if Harry would conjure the Death Eater's sign. That's too ridiculous for words. I wanted to interfere but the boy pulled me back and made sure I wouldn't get tangled up in this mess. Who the hell did he think he was?

"We didn't do it. There was a man, right there and he did it." Harry said.

The man finally let him go and gave the order to search the area. The one who conjured the sign should still be around here. I quickly pulled myself free from the boy and went over to Harry. Before he could properly realise who I was, I had already pulled him into a bone crushing hug. I didn't care if I cracked a few of his ribs, I was just glad he was okay.

"How do you do it, Harry? Are you a magnet to danger? Because I'm starting to think that you are."

"I don't know, Danny."

"We were looking for Harry when we saw him hiding from the man who got the sign in the air."

"Was I talking to you?" I snapped at the girl.

Why did she always have to meddle herself with everything? I was having a conversation with my brother and I don't remember inviting her to join.

"Don't snap at her like that!" The redhead tried to defend her.

"Don't start a fight right now, guys. We have to find our families. They're probably at the gathering point."

Damn, families! We still hadn't found the boy's father.

"Maybe your father is there as well." I told him.

"Yeah, maybe. It's worth going over there. I don't think there are any people left around here."

The decision was made to go back to the gathering point to find our families. Harry and his two friends were engaged in a conversation of speculations on who the man could have been. I didn't feel like getting involved with that so I just followed after them with the boy whose name I didn't even remember.

"So did you like the game?"

I laughed. The game felt like days ago even if it was just a few hours. My laughter made the three before us look at me strangely. I guess it wasn't appropriate to laugh right now.

"I did." I whispered back.

"I thought the Bulgarian team would win for sure."

Quidditch seemed to be a mutual interest and at least it took our minds of the fact that we had no idea if our families were safe. We got into a discussion on what team was better: The Holyhead Harpers or the Tutshill Tornados. He was apparently a big fan of the Tornados while I of course support the only all-female British Quidditch team although I like the Falmouth Falcons as well.

Eventually we got to the gathering point and I heard someone yell 'Cedric' over everyone else. The boy turned around and went over to his father. So the boy's name was Cedric.

I followed Harry to a bunch of people with red hair. Can you guess who they are? Uncle Sirius and dad were there as well and enveloped both Harry and me in a hug once they noticed us. I was glad that everyone seemed to be okay. Dad told us that the four muggles who owned the field had died. I really hate Death Eaters.


	6. The Triwizard Tournament

_Thank you __**Just Another Aceves **__and __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__for reviewing the previous chapter. _

_The text in italics means they're talking French. Since that will happen a lot in this story because Danny talks French with the friends at Beauxbatons, I thought this would easier than writing the French sentence and always the translation afterwards. _

Chapter 6

After we got home from the Quidditch World Cup, mom forbid us to go out alone so me and Harry spend the rest of our summer stuck in our house. It wasn't all that bad. Our house is always alive with magic and people. Uncle Sirius comes over almost every day and uncle Remus is a regular visitor as well. That may explain why none of them is married. The real reason is because uncle Sirius will never settle down, he says every woman should have to pleasure to be his for one night. Mom always gets mad when he says stuff like that in front of me and Harry. As if we never heard him say things like that before. And uncle Remus doesn't want to drag someone down with him he says. His wife would automatically be discriminated for being married to a werewolf and he doesn't want to do that to anyone but mom still hasn't given up hope on him and insists he goes on a blind date with one of her friends every year.

It was August the 31th and I would leave for Paris in the afternoon. I had postponed packing my trunk till...now and I was starting to regret it. I couldn't remember where I had left all my stuff. I'm not really the most organised person in the world but at least I'm not a hopeless case like Harry, or my dad, or uncle Sirius. Mom's actually pretty lucky she still has me in this house.

"Harry, have you seen my new quills? I thought I had put them in my trunk but I can't seem to find them anymore."

"I don't know."

I'm pretty sure he didn't even hear what I asked him. He was sitting on his bed, staring intently at the piece of paper in his hand.

"What do you have there?"

"What? Oh, that. It's an article on Bartemius Crouch Sr."

"The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? Not the most entertaining man to read about. He's absolutely dull. Couldn't you guess that from his job?"

"Did you know he had a son?"

I shook my head. I don't know anything about the man and why does Harry care so much about it?

"What's the article about?"

"Just the consequences of what happened at the World Cup. Crouch apparently gave a speech about it."

For someone who was gripping the article so tightly, he didn't seem very interested in its content.

"If it's so boring then why are you reading it?"

"I'm not reading it."

"What, you're just looking at the pictures?"

"Yes, I am and look what I found."

He beckoned me over and I sat down next to him. He pointed to a picture on the bottom of the page. It showed a man in his thirties who looked pretty bonkers. It reminded me of Peter Pettigrew's wanted poster. The article said the man was Bartemius Crouch Jr. That's un unfortunate name.

"So?" I asked.

"That's the man! The man I saw at the World Cup, the one who conjured the sign."

"That's not possible, Harry. It says right here that he's dead."

"I know what the article says but I also know what I saw."

"Maybe it's someone who looked like him."

"No, I've seen that face enough times to recognize it immediately when I see it."

"What do you mean? You've seen it before?"

My brother got this guilty look on his face which means he's been hiding something from me.

"Harry..."

"I've been having this strange dream and it comes back every night."

"What is it about?"

"I see this house and there is an old man in it. He hears a noise coming from this big mansion nearby. The mansion is deserted and neglected. The man goes to the room the noise comes from and looks inside. There are three people in the room. One of them is Pettigrew and the other one is this man." He says while pointing to the picture of Bartomius Crouch Jr.

"And the third man?"

"I can't see him, he's sitting in a chair with his back to me. Suddenly the third man says they have company. Pettigrew goes to the door, sees the man and grins. Before I know what's happening I see this flash of bright green light come to me and I wake up."

"That's just a nightmare, Harry."

"No, it isn't. I've got the feeling that it's something that actually happened."

"You're not a seer. You can't see real stuff like that in a dream."

"Never mind, Danny. Forget I even told you this."

Harry was irritated that I didn't believe him but come on, it sounds pretty unrealistic. I didn't have the patience right now to deal with his mood swings so I left his room to finish my packing.

I had said goodbye to my brother, my father, my mother, uncle Remus and uncle Sirius. It was finally time for me to leave for another year at Beauxbatons. I wouldn't come home until Christmas and that's still a long time for my family.

The train ride to Paris was boring, as usually. I was surrounded by muggles and I just don't have a lot in common with them. I spend the entire ride reading a book uncle Remus bought me. Even though people tell me I'm a lot like my father, I've got the love for books from my mother. Which is a good thing since my godfather keeps buying me books to read. Uncle Remus knows I want to be able to summon a patronus as well so he gave me a book about them. By the end of the year I'll make sure I'm at the same level Harry is. I'm also really curious to see if Harry was right and the form of my patronus really is an eagle.

When the train finally arrived at Paris, I had to wait for professor Milain to pick me up. Professor Milain teaches muggle studies which I don't follow but she picks me up every year so by know we've developed some sort of friendly relationship. The reason she's nice to me is probably because she never had to teach me. The professors in general aren't that happy with me since I like to make a scene for everything.

"_Good morning, Professor_ _Milain."_

"_Hello, Miss Potter. Did you have a good summer? I heard there was some drama going on at the World Cup in England. I hope everything is okay."_

That's another funny thing about living in two countries. What seems like a big deal in one country, appears to be barely important in the other one. For example the drama going on at the World Cup, the way professor Milain said it. She wouldn't think of it as 'a little drama' had she been there. I had never been more afraid in my life.

"_Yes, everything worked out in the end."_

Except for the four muggles who died during it! I followed the professor to the carriage once the other students had arrived. Most parents bring their children themselves to the school but for some families that's just way too far. Like it is for mine and the people who come from Italy.

We got in the carriage that was invisible to the muggles in the city. The carriage was pulled by the most magnificent horses you've ever seen in your life. They're bigger than normal horses and white like snow. Their manes and tales are golden and their eyes are the brightest red there is. I sat down next to Hayak Lumina, she's Italian and in my year. She's okay I guess but after going to Beauxbatons for three years she still doesn't speak French very well.

The ride was short so we quickly arrived at the school. When I saw the immense palace, I felt home again. I know I get angry when Harry describes Hogwarts as his second home but that's what Beauxbatons is to me as well. I quickly got out of the carriage and made my way over to my dorm. Our school doesn't divide its students the way Hogwarts does. There also aren't as much students here so all the girls from my year sleep together in the same dorm. Like every other year, I'm one of the last people to arrive. Everyone had already made up their bed with the exception of me and Hayak.

"_Danny!"_

I heard my name being called and didn't have to turn around to know it was Noa.

"_Oh my God, Noa! I've missed you so much."_ I told her while I hugged her.

It was true. When I was at school, I missed my family and in particular Harry. When I was at home I missed my friends and in particular Noa.

"_You look really good, where did you go this time?" _

Noa always goes on amazing travels. Last year she went to Brazil for 6 weeks. She gets pretty much everything she wants from her mother, probably to make up for the fact there's no longer a father in her life. Noa's dad died when she was 7 years old. A crazy muggle tried to rob him but when he could only give him sickles instead of muggle money, he killed him. You'd think that would make her hate muggles but it doesn't. In fact she's always very enthusiastic about muggle studies.

"_Australia! I never knew there was such a large magical community."_ She smiled.

For the rest of the day she told me about here amazing holiday while I told her of mine. She was shocked to hear what happened at the World Cup and sensitive as she is, she got tears in her eyes when I told her about the muggle family.

Eventually it was time for us to go to dinner. There are two large tables in our dining hall but everyone can just sit where they want to. I sat down next to Noa when I noticed that Jonathan Berkham was sitting in front of me.

"_Hi Danny, you look really good."_ He smiled at me.

"_Thank you. You look really good yourself."_

It was true. He looked tanner than before and it went really well with his gorgeous blond hair. His charming smile definitely helped as well. He had also grown over the holiday and was now more than a head taller than me. Not that I mind, the guy always has to be taller than the girl.

"_So did you go to the World Cup this year? Did you hear what happened?"_

For the second time today I talked about what I'd seen and heard afterwards about the World Cup. We had started eating as well and even though I know it's not that charming to talk while you eat, I couldn't help it. I hadn't eaten anything since I'd been on the train to Paris.

"_Attention students!"_

Madame Maxine is the headmistress of our school and you always get a pain in the neck when you talk to her. I mean that in both ways.

"_Welcome, new students and welcome back to the older ones. I'm overjoyed to announce to you all a different location for this school year."_

New location? Is Beauxbatons moving? I was already getting images of amazing spa resorts as my new school. That would be so awesome!

"_This year our school will compete in the Triwizard Tournament!"_

"_The what?"_ I whispered to Noa.

"_The Triwizard Tournament is a competition where three schools compete for the cup. Every school gets to select one champion who'll fight for the school's honour during three challenges." _Noa told me.

"_Sounds like just another way to show off to other schools."_

Noa just shrugged and we turned our attention back to Madame Maxine's speech.

"_This year the competing schools will be Beauxbatons, Durmstrang and Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore has been so kind to open up the doors of his school to our students. This year we will live at Hogwarts with the students from the three schools."_

We're going to Hogwarts? For an entire year? I don't know how I feel about that. A whole year with Harry instead of just the summer sounded pretty awesome to me but at the same time... I have always separated my life at school and my life at home. What if I go there and it will be exactly what I've been avoiding all these years? What if there I won't be anything more than Harry's sister, to my friends as well? I got a lot of questions during my first year about my brother but that all went away when I wouldn't give them the juicy details they were all looking for. Will that change?

"_We'll be leaving on the first of October."_

After dinner we all went up to our dorms. I told Noa that I wasn't too excited about going to Hogwarts but she didn't understand. She knows that I miss my family a lot during the year so of course she expected me to be thrilled with the prospect of spending an entire year with my brother.

Three days went by before I finally got a letter from Harry. He had heard about the Triwizard Tournament as well and he too wasn't that excited about it. We finally had something that we didn't have to share with each other and it would all blend in together in a few days. This sucks!

October the first came sooner than I wanted it to. We had al packed our things days ago. One of the professor had to check all our trunks to make sure we didn't take any illegal stuff to Britain. We'd be leaving in the carriage that I arrived in every year except that now it would be magically enlarged. The inside looked more like an aircraft right now than a carriage.

"_Aren't you from England?"_ Jonathan asked me once we took off.

I nodded. I could see the sky pass by through the windows. Oh right, the horses fly.

"_So it's like going home for you?"_

That's not what it is at all. Hogwarts is home to Harry, I on the other had only been there once and I had been too busy worrying about Harry to properly look around. Travelling to Hogwarts didn't take as much time as I thought it would. I guess flying horses are faster than the train. Who knew?

"_Are you excited to see your brother? Noa told me he goes to Hogwarts."_

That's another thing: I didn't tell Joachim that my brother is THE Harry Potter. I didn't want him to like me because of that. I really do like him and if I get lucky he'll be my first boyfriend. Another thing I can beat my brother in. I love Harry but I've seen him talk to girls. This will be an easy victory.

"_We're landing soon. Hold on!"_

Out of the window I saw the shape of a castle coming closer. Hogwarts was enormous. I already knew that from the pictures Harry and my parents showed me but still, Hogwarts was enormous. Even through the fog hanging around it I could still see that it was beautiful. I may love Beauxbatons but this school was way cooler, from the outside only of course.

The landing was, well... bumpy. It's apparently not easy to land a carriage being pulled by flying horses. We almost decapitated a man, or giant. He was pretty big but maybe that's because we're all in a tiny carriage.

When we were finally allowed to leave the little place of suffocation, we could see the Durmstrang students do the same. They had come in this boat that could travel underwater. Apparently that's something muggles invented years ago according to one of Jonathan's friends. He was not impressed.

We were lead through a lot of hallways until we finally arrived in a room behind the Great Hall. This elder woman told us to stay there and we'd be introduced to the students of Hogwarts soon.

"_It's pretty impressive, don't you think?"_ Noa asked me once we sat down.

"_Yeah, this is definitely nothing like our school."_

"_Doesn't it make you wonder what your life would be like if you went to school here?"_

"_No way! I've never regretted my choice in school and just because Hogwarts is bigger and apparently way richer, that won't change."_

Noa smiled at me, then turned around to listen to whatever it was Madame Maxine was blabbing about. I just don't think it can honestly be that interesting.

Finally we were allowed to leave the room and enter the Great Hall. The older students went in first and the girls did some strange sigh and skip scene. I sure as hell did not participate in that. It made them look like such bimbos. I just walked in like the normal people, after Madame Maxine. This room was magnificent. It was probably the biggest room I've ever been in and I have seen the ministry before. The ceiling was magical, as expected. It was pretty strange to behold. There wasn't really a ceiling, it was as if we were looking at the sky. There were dark clouds similar to the ones outside at the moment.

It took me a while to look away from the amazing ceiling and search the room for Harry instead. I'll have you know that Hogwarts has a lot of students, way more than my school does. To make it even more difficult for me to find my brother, they all wear the same clothes. Then I figured I only had to look at the Gryffindors and I'd find him in no time. Fortunately for me there is only one table in the Great Hall where all the Gryffindors sit. Unfortunately that table is longer than the average catwalk.

I finally noticed Harry sitting at the table when we were all making our way to the front. He was sitting next to his two friends I had met before, the ones I don't like. He didn't seem to notice me so I just walked ahead. I really shouldn't have come here.

"_Don't you just love this school? Maybe I should ask my parents to let me transfer."_

The girl saying that would be Helena Giblon. She's one of my friends and probably the most spoiled girl you have ever met. I think it's a pureblood thing if she's anything to go by.

When the Durmstrang boys entered the room, you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was very focused on their little act. I have to admit that I was impressed by their little performance of testosterone as well. They have some very attractive students. But the thing that impressed us all the most was the fact that Viktor Krum was there, as a student! I always thought he was way too old to still be in school. Or maybe he's just dumb enough to not graduate. That might be a possibility. He doesn't seem like the brightest guy in the room.

All the 'It's Viktor Krum' and the 'Oh my god's were really starting to get on my nerves so when Dumbledore shut everyone up, I could have kissed his feet out of gratitude. Well, not really since they're probably gross but you get what I'm saying.

Professor Dumbledore made this big speech about the Triwizard Tournament and what it really is. When he announced that there would be no contestants younger than 17 years old, a lot of students complained but were quickly silenced. I don't understand why they were making such a big deal out of it. I'm glad there's a rule like that. It calms me to know Harry can't possibly compete in the tournament if he gets that crazy idea in his head.

He told us how people could sign up for the tournament. Something to do with a cup and an age line but it really didn't interest me. What did draw my attention was a certain guy on the other side of the room who I recognised after a 5 minutes staring contest. Cedric Diggory I believe his name was. I still couldn't be really sure about that.

He seemed to be searching the room for something. He didn't look for it anymore once his eyes crossed mine. He smiled at me and since it's nice to return it when the guy helped you find your brother when there were Death Eaters attacking you, I smiled back. Jonathan suddenly nudged my side and I turned my attention to him.

"_What?"_

"_Who's that?"_

"_He's just some guy I met at the Quidditch World Cup. Why do you ask? Are you jealous?"_

"_No."_

He might have said no but the way he was acting made it pretty clear to me that he was jealous. That's perfect. It will definitely help speed up the dating process. By the end of the month I must have had my first kiss and I want it to be with Jonathan.

Finally the whole blablabla was over and people started returning to their dorms since it was already late. One of our teachers would show us to our dorms for this year but before I'd search for my bed, I needed to talk to Harry.

After a lot of putting my elbows in other people's ribs, I had finally reached the Gryffindor table. I could see Harry getting up from the table a little further. I made my way over to him and finally reached my brother. Who knew it was so hard to just say hi to Harry?

"Hey."

Harry seemed to be completely taken by surprise by me coming up to him. He clearly didn't expect me to talk to him when all his friends are around. It's like he doesn't know me at all.

"Oh, hi Danny."

I don't think I've ever had a more awkward conversation with my own brother. His friends were staring at me and Harry as if they were trying to tell him 'who the hell is she?'.

"So this is Hogwarts."

"Yeah and these are..."

"Your fellow Gryffindors I assume?"

"Hi, my name is Seamus."

One of the guys standing near Harry introduced himself to me. He seemed a little too eager to talk to me and his over smiley face was creeping me out.

"Okay, my name's Danny."

"That's a beautiful name. Very French. And may I just say that your English is very well."

Was he trying to suck up to me? If that was the case, he was doing a terrible job.

"Well, your English is very good as well." I teased while patting him on the head.

"Dude, she's British." The Weasley boy said.

"Oh, wait, how come you go to Beauxbatons then?" Seamus said.

"Because I wanted to." Duh.

"So do you live at Godric's Hollow as well since you seem to know Harry?"

Is this guy kidding me?

"Yeah, I live there too. Matter of fact I even live in the same house as Harry."

The guy just got a very stupid expression on his face. I guess he's not the smartest one of the bunch.

"I'm Harry's sister." I said annoyed.

"You have a sister?"

Great, if I ever had the illusion that Harry might have talked about me from time to time in the past three years ,that just got shattered.

"Yeah, didn't I mention that before?" Harry said while rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Good, he should get in trouble for not mentioning my existence!

"I think I would have remembered if I knew you had such a beautiful sister." Seamus smiled at me.

"Whatever Harry, I'll see you later."

Noa had been waving me over for almost five minutes now. I'm really glad she had waited for me.

"_Is that your brother?"_ She asked me while pointing out Seamus.

"_No, he is."_

I thought she knew what he looked like since he's famous and all that. Plus I do tell my friends about my brother and I'm sure I've even showed Noa his picture before.

"_He looks like you"_

"_That's not a compliment."_

"_Yes, it is. He's handsome."_

"_So I look like a boy?"_

"_Never mind, let's just get to our dorms before we lose the others." _She said when she pulled me with her, following the other girls of our year.

The place we would sleep this entire year wasn't all that bad. It was a very large room with a queen size bed for everyone of us and an adjoining bathroom. I was so tired I immediately fell asleep once my head hit my pillow. If my first day at Hogwarts was anything to go by, I was not going to like it here.

_Please review, I would love to know what you think about the story. _


	7. The Goblet of Fire

_Thank you so much for reviewing the previous chapter __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, Viralic1, chasm **__and __**accio gold**__! Sorry if Danny comes off too much of a bitch. She definitely has a bitchy side to her but yes, she's mostly just quickly irritated by people mainly because they only care about her brother and not her. Danny's personality will definitely still change in this story because she's still growing up. _

Chapter 7

I only woke up when all the other girls were already dressed for school. I quickly did the same and joined them for breakfast. Everywhere we go, the students seem to look at us as if we're from another planet. I have to admit we do stuck out between the mass of grey students with our light blue outfits but I would not want to wear theirs. The one who designed Hogwarts' uniform must have hated the female form and insisted the girls couldn't show it off, if they even have it under all those loose layers.

"Hi."

I was surprised to find the Diggory guy talking to me, especially when all his friends were practically drooling over my friends. Especially Fleur Delacour seemed to be getting a lot of attention but that's normal since she's older and got Veela blood. I think that's cheating.

"Euhm...hey."

"Wow, you speak English!" One of his friends commented.

I'm not even going to respond. Instead I just rolled my eyes.

"What do you think of Hogwarts so far?" Diggory asked me while we walked to the Great Hall for breakfast.

I won't tell him this but I was glad we'd run into him. I don't think any of us could have found the place without any help and now we didn't even have to ask for it.

"Pretty impressive though the people here are just rude with all the staring." I said a little louder while glaring at the people who had been doing exactly that.

"They're just fascinated. Most people haven't met wizards and witches from another country."

"I guess." I shrugged. "But it's still rude."

"So are you competing in the Triwizard tournament?" He asked me.

"How old do you think I am? There's a age line, remember? I'm only fourteen."

"Oh, that's right." He sounded a little disappointed.

"Well, maybe that's a good thing. I wouldn't want to compete with you." He smiled.

"You're entering the competition?"

I must say I'm a little surprised. He didn't strike me as the kind of person who'd put his life on the line for entertainment's sake.

"Yes." He said proudly.

Did he want me to congratulate him or something?

"Good for you." I said sarcastically.

"What? You don't think it's a good thing?"

"I don't see why anyone would want to compete in it anyway. There are less painful ways to die."

"Cedric isn't going to die! He's the best in our year. He's going to win this entire competition." One of his friends interfered.

"If he even gets picked."

I hope for his sake that he won't be the champion. He seemed like a good guy and shouldn't die in such a stupid competition.

"He'll get picked! Who else deserves to be the Hogwarts champion?"

His friend was starting to annoy me. When are we going to get to the Great Hall?

"Don't pay attention to him. I want to prove myself to people who think Hufflepuffs are just the ones who don't belong in any other house. The fact that winning this thing comes with eternal glory and a lot of money is just a bonus." He smiled.

Well, at least he did it for a better reason than just wanting the cash.

"I'm going to put my name in the goblet this afternoon. You should come."

"Why would I do that?"

Seriously, why would I? I can't imagine it being very exciting to watch someone put a piece of parchment in a cup. I heard the goblet had flames and all but I'm still not very impressed.

"Because I would like that."

I cocked my eyebrow at him.

"That's not a good reason."

"And because you can mock all the people who are stupid enough to enter the competition." He smiled.

Now that was a better reason. Before I could say anything else, Helena interfered telling him we would all be there, in her very French version of English. I'm surprised she even understood what he had said. Diggory smiled and waved me goodbye when he left for his table.

"_Oh my God, how come you know that total hottie?" _Helena grinned.

"_Who is a hottie?" _Jonathan suddenly joined the conversation.

"_This guy Danny was talking to. If I had that guy fawning over me, I wouldn't hesitate to go to the cup thing." _

"_Is she talking about your brother?"_ Jonathan tried.

"_Please, I would have known if her brother was a hottie. No, I'm talking about that guy." _Helena pointed out the Diggory kid.

Jonathan obviously recognised him as the guy who had smiled at me last night because he got that jealous, slightly angry look on his face again.

"_Oh, that guy."_

"_You know him as well? One of you has to introduce me to him. Unless of course you want him, Danny?"_

They were both looking at me expectantly. I decided to make the both of them happy by telling them I was not interested in him and Helena should give it a try. She happily skipped over to where he was sitting, overwhelming him with her over flirty vibe.

"_So you are not interested in him?"_

"_Should I be?"_

"_No. But if you're not interested in him or anyone else for that matter, would you like to have breakfast with me?" _He smiled at me with his normal arrogance seeping through again.

I smiled and followed him to the table reserved for the students of Beauxbatons. I talked to him and some of his friends before Helena showed up again.

"_Come on, Danny. We're going to the cup thing."_

"_What? Why?"_

"_Because the hottie will be there today."_ She answered as if I had just asked a ridiculous question.

"_Now?"_

"_I don't know. I didn't understand everything he said. But it is today and it's not like you've got something better to do. Plus you can be my translator. I don't always get what he's saying but the accent is so cute." _She smiled.

Eventually I gave in and that's the reason I've been spending almost the entire day in the room with the goblet. I saw a lot of people pass by, putting their names in the goblet, one more eager to get hurt than the other. Helena on the other hand was having a blast. She kept saying she should have come here instead of Beauxbatons since, and I quote, 'there are so many cute hotties around here'.

While Helena was once again smiling and batting her eyes at some guy, I saw a familiar person entering the room, times two. The Weasley twins were holding some potion in their hands and were being surrounded by laughing students. Harry and his redheaded friend among them. When one of the twins, George I think noticed me, he winked at me right before the both of them downed the potion. I may not have known them for a long time yet but that potion must be trouble. When their vials were empty, they passed the age line without any problems. Did the potion work? But before they could enter their names into the cup, they flew backwards. People weren't cheering anymore right now. I got up to see what was going on as well. When the both of them got back up, they had a long white beard each. I laughed along with the other students and even harder when they started blaming each other and got into a fight. It was a really weird sight to see two 'old men' fight on the floor with each other.

People stopped laughing when another person entered his name in the cup. It shouldn't really be a surprise that Viktor Krum would enter such a competition so why was everyone staring at him like that? Because everyone was watching Krum leave, nobody noticed the way Karkarov looked at Harry. But I did and I don't think that's a good thing. So when Helena waved me over to translate something, I didn't pay attention to her but went straight to my brother who was laughing with his red headed and bushy haired friends.

"Do you know Karkarov?"

"Hello to you too." The Weasley guy mumbled under his breath but I didn't think he was worth any attention.

"Just from the newspaper. Why?"

"No reason."

There was no use in worrying him. He was still obsessing over that strange recurrent dream, he didn't need something else to obsess about.

"_Where did you go, Danny? I needed you to tell that guy I love romantic walks in the moon light. Who's this?" _Helena showed up out of nowhere.

"_Helena, this is my brother and his insignificant friends. _Harry, this is my friend Helena." I sighed.

"Mon Dieu, you Harry potter? Happy meet you!" She smiled widely.

"She means she's happy to meet you so if you could just smile, she'll go away without telling you how much she adores the boy who lived. You don't want to hear that."

"Euhm... It's nice to meet you too?" Harry tried.

Unfortunately Helena didn't just go away. She kept telling my brother how brave he was for defeating such a dark wizard at the age of one. Please, he didn't actually do anything. He was one year old. He just sat in his box and cried to make Voldemort go away. What is brave about that?

"What exactly was she trying to say?" Harry asked me once Helena had finally moved over to a boy who would appreciate her French gibberish.

"Believe me, it was absolutely not important."

Harry might not have understood what Helena had been saying but I did. Man, I'd be glad if I don't have to hear another Hail-Harry-Potter-speech for the rest of my life. Probably not the best odds.

"So what do you want?" The Weasley guy got rude.

"I want you to go away but that's not going to happen, is it?"

"Danny..." Harry sighed.

"What? He started it."

"Can't you just be nice to my friends?"

"Oh, I don't have to be nice to them since they don't even know I exist!" I bit back.

"Awkward..." The redhead mumbled under his breath, as if I couldn't hear him.

"Like you've told your friends about me."

"Did you miss the girl standing here, praising my brother? I'm not the one who's embarrassed about his sibling."

Harry tried to respond but I was already walking away. I was angry and I think I have the right to be. Harry doesn't miss me during the time we spend apart these past three years, he might not even think about me and now he doesn't even tell his friends he has a sister! I feel very non-important to him right now. So when I ran into Helena again, praising my 'magnificent' brother again, I told her to take a hike. That was definitely not appreciated but I just wanted her to leave me alone right now.

I didn't talk to Harry again until the evening Dumbledore would announce the champions of the three schools to us. Everyone was really excited about who it would be but honestly, I didn't really care. Though I have to say I was silently hoping Cedric Diggory wouldn't be chosen. I don't think he knows what he signed up for or maybe he does and that might be even worse. I was also hoping the Beauxbatons champion wouldn't be someone I know well enough to care.

"Dear students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. It is my pleasure to announce to you that we have a lot of people willing to compete for their school's honour." And put their lives on the line while they're at it but I guess that just so insignificant it's not even worth mentioning in the big speech.

"The goblet of fire will reveal the first champion now." Dumbledore said while everyone stared at the big cup.

It had been placed in the exact middle of the Great Hall so everyone would have a good view on it. The flames around the goblet usually were blue but now they were getting bigger and turned red. A lot of people were oooh-ing and aaaah-ing but honestly, had they never seen magic before? Suddenly a piece of parchment flew out off the goblet and to Dumbledore. He caught it and read it out loud.

"The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!" He shouted.

The entire crowd was cheering but obviously Viktor's friends more than others and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe the goblet was a Quidditch fan as well. Because I had always been under the impression you had to be smart to enter the tournament and not just muscled. While everyone was still cheering, Viktor Krum walked to the front and followed a professor to a room behind the Great Hall.

Soon the flames of the goblet turned red again and another piece of parchment got spit out.

"The champion representing Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"

I cheered along with everyone else this time and maybe even a little more because she was girl. I had expected the tournament to be an all boys club. And she is representing my school. I noticed a lot of guys from Beaubatons grumbling over the fact that the cup chose a girl over them. That just made me even happier with the choice. Fleur went out the same way Krum had. For the last time the flames went red and another piece of parchment came out.

"The Hogwarts Champion is Cedric Diggory!"

I wasn't cheering. Why would I? The guy wasn't all that bad and I don't think he deserves to get injured in this stupid tournament, not that Fleur or Krum do. He did seem very pleased being cheered on by all his friends (he's got a lot of them!) and I figured I should applaud anyway since he did save my life this summer.

There was an excited atmosphere in the Great Hall now that the three champions had been chosen. Now that others could no longer compete they told their craziest ideas about what the three tasks could be to everyone willing to listen. I was listening to Samantha Shabli's idea for the first task (a wizarding duel while they're being surrounded by fire) when I noticed something was happening to the goblet. The flames had turned blue again when the last champion had been announced and were supposed to stay that way since there was no one else to be selected. But despite that the flames turned red again and another piece of parchment came out. Everyone was staring in awe when Dumbledore caught the unexpected paper.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore bellowed.

What!? That's not possible! He didn't even apply for this ridiculous tournament. He couldn't, even if he had wanted to. Dumbledore had drawn an age line that no one could trick. Harry might be smart but not that smart. My eyes immediately looked for Harry who seemed just as surprised as everyone else in the Great Hall, including every professor in the room and Dumbledore. There's no doubt in my mind that this has to be a mistake. My brother didn't want to compete in this thing. Maybe Dumbledore read the wrong name?

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore repeated, sounding very angry right now.

Harry eventually walked up to Dumbledore in the middle of the Great Hall. He seemed completely at loss on what to do now. The people yelling stuff at him like 'he's not even seventeen' and calling him a cheater can't possibly make him feel better right now. It almost made me want to get up and punch those idiots in the face. It's obvious he didn't intend for this to happen. Harry went to the room where the other champions were and as soon as he was gone hell broke loose. Dumbledore pretty much ran to that room as did the teachers following him and all the students started complaining that this shouldn't be allowed. Of course it won't be allowed, he's fourteen years old!

"_Are you alright, Danny? You look a bit pale." _Noa asked me.

Of course I wasn't alright. My brother just got picked as champion for the Triwizard tournament! How could anyone possibly be alright after that?

"_They won't allow it, right?" _I asked her.

She couldn't give me the answer to that. But even if Dumbledore was stupid enough to let a fourteen year old boy who has the reputation of getting in situations that might get him killed, compete in one of the most dangerous tournaments wizards have ever invented, there is no way my parents would allow this to happen. It would be madness.

One of the Hogwarts' professors spoke up, telling everyone that dinner was over and we should all return to our dorms. Like hell I was going to do that! While everyone else left, I made my way to the door my brother had left through but before I could open it, someone stopped me.

"What do you think you're doing?" The professor who had told us all to leave, asked me.

She looked very severe with her glasses and her hair in a tight bun. But I really couldn't care less about what she thought. I'm not a student at Hogwarts so she can't really give me detention.

"Going through that door." I replied but when I made another attempt to open the door, I realised that she had locked it.

"I'm sure there are a lot of students curious about what is happening in there but since you aren't a champion or a professor, you don't have access." She said strictly.

"Neither is Harry.!" I almost yelled.

He wasn't a champion. He couldn't be since he's not even allowed to compete in this tournament. The female professor looked me over before opening her mouth again.

"You must be Danielle Potter, Mr Potter's sister."

"Yes, now let me in there!"

"I'm afraid I still can't let you but if you want to, you can wait right here until they leave the room."

It looks like that is my best option. I obviously couldn't get into the room and there is no way I'm leaving before I know for sure that Harry is not competing in this thing.

For the next half hour I sat in front of the door, waiting for it to open again and reveal a smiling Harry who would tell me that everything had been solved and he wouldn't compete. Unfortunately that's not what happened. The door did open and reveal the people who had been in the room, Harry among them but he was not smiling.

The first one to come out was Madame Maxine who looked thoroughly pissed, as did Karkarov. They both didn't even look at me. Krum passed me as well without as much as glancing at me, Fleur gave me a little smile and Diggory even looked like he wanted to talk to me. But before he could I had already made my way over to Harry who most definitely didn't look very pleased.

"What happened? Tell me!" I demanded.

"The goblet chose me as a champion." He stated.

Of course I had already known that. After all I had been there when the piece of parchment came out of the goblet and Dumbledore started bellowing his name through the Great Hall, as had all the students from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. I wanted to know what had happened afterwards, what was said in that room.

"I know that but they won't actually let you compete, right?" I asked him just to be sure those people weren't mad enough to let my brother compete in the tournament.

"I have to." He said.

"What?"

"Once a champion is chosen there is no way back. I have to compete in the tournament."

He looked upset. Then again so was I about letting him compete in this ridiculous form of entertainment.

"That won't happen. There is no way mom and dad will let you. They'll figure out a way to get you out of this mess."

I was absolutely convinced that my heroin mom and hero dad would fix this. No parent actually wants their child to compete in this thing, right? Especially when they're even too young to sign up for it. Harry just shook his head. He obviously wasn't very convinced about it.

"When the goblet chose me, it became a binding contract. I will have to compete in the tournament." He sighed.

"But that's ridiculous! You're not even old enough to sign up for it. There was an age line, how could this have happened?"

"I didn't sign up for this!"

"I know that. You don't need this stupid tournament to get in live threatening situations. You can do that all by yourself."

Harry is already like a magnet to danger. He wouldn't voluntarily sign up for a tournament that did just that: put him in danger.

"People have died competing in this tournament, Harry." I sighed.

"I know."

He was scared, I could tell. I was scared as well.

"Don't be like them. Don't die in this tournament."

"I'll try." He attempted to joke. It wasn't funny.

He wouldn't have to try all by himself. I would help him make it out of this tournament alive. I just had no idea how I was going to do it.


	8. What to do?

_Thank you __**EffortToLogin **__and __**xXMizz AlecVolturiXx **__for reviewing. And thank you for letting me know when I make a writing mistake. _

_Some parts of this chapter might look familiar because I follow the movie as I write this story so some dialogues come directly from the movie (or the book when I don't like the movie scene), of course altered a little so it fits in my story. The extra information comes from the awesome Harry Potter wikia. _

Chapter 8

Harry had been right about mum and dad not being able to do anything about it. He would have to compete in this tournament. He'll have to go up against people at least two years older than him with much more magical experience than him. But I took comfort out of the fact Harry had already faced Voldemort several times and he still hadn't died. He's either very lucky or a super talented wizard. I know he's talented but I'm afraid the latter isn't the reason he hasn't died yet. And at some point luck always runs out.

I had taken it upon myself to help my brother in this tournament. The first step was to find out what exactly was expected of Harry. To do that I looked for some books on the tournament in the library. Of course I didn't find anything helpful there. So I decided to gain information through a different source, someone who knew just as much as every encyclopaedia: uncle Remus. He send me the only book he could find that contained a chapter on the Triwizard Tournament.

_The first tournament was held in approximately 1294, with each of the schools being represented by one Champion. Selected Champions compete in three tasks designed to test magical ability, intelligence and courage, traditionally judged by the Headmasters or Headmistresses of the competing schools. Champions compete for the honour and glory of winning the Tournament and the prize for the victor is the Triwizard Cup and a monetary prize._

_However the Tournament is extremely dangerous and Champions have died while competing. Sometime after the 1792 Triwizard Tournament, it was discontinued when the death toll became too high. In 1994 the Tournament will be revived with restrictions in place in an attempt to stop any potential deaths._

I already knew all of this though the restrictions that had been made for this edition didn't really comfort me. I still thought the tournament was a dangerous idea and they had been right to stop it all those years ago.

_Each competing school is allowed one Champion to represent them during the Tournament. Students wishing to participate write their names and the school they attend on a piece of parchment and enter it in the Goblet of Fire. The Goblet is an impartial judge and selects what it considers to be the best student from each school. At the appointed time, the Goblet ejects the names, making each selected_ _student the official Champion for their school. Each selected Champion is bound by a magical contract to see the Tournament to the end. _

_Each Tournament consists of three tasks. These tasks are exceedingly dangerous and differ from year to year. Each champion is supposed to stand alone during the Tournament, receiving no outside help from anyone, including friends and teachers. Cheating is frowned upon, though it has been known to take place several times during the history of the Tournament, and some people believe it to be a traditional part of the event. _

So if I helped Harry it would be considered cheating? They said no champion was allowed to be helped by friends or teachers, nothing was said about sisters. Even if it was against the rules, what could they do about it? If it resulted in disqualification, that's one more reason to do it. Then Harry wouldn't be stuck to this magical contract.

_The Triwizard Tournament was held in 1792, and one of the tasks involved catching a cockatrice. However, the beast went on a rampage and injured three of the judges, the Head of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The Tournament was cancelled after this incident, but several unsuccessful attempts were made to resurrect it._

They had used a cockatrice in one of the tasks? What is wrong with these people? A cockatrice is an extremely dangerous creature. It looks like a rooster but has a lizard's tale. It's also related to dragons. All in all a very vicious beast. Would Harry have to fight a creature like that? I hope not. I was actually expecting tasks more along the lines of a wizarding duel.

The conclusion after reading all this, is that I really can't help him unless I know what the first task is. But how could I possibly find out? I needed someone willing to tell me, someone naïve enough to think I wouldn't tell anyone. But where could I find such a person? Maybe Harry knows, after all he is the one attending Hogwarts and not me.

"Who would know what the first task is?" I asked Harry when I found him sitting by himself in the Great Hall.

People have been rather rude to him lately. Everyone just assumes he cheated and put his name in the goblet himself. They don't want to believe he doesn't want this. Even his supposedly best friend isn't talking to him anymore because he feels betrayed that Harry found a way to put his name in the goblet and didn't tell him. Why doesn't he get that Harry didn't do it?

"What?"

"We need to start preparing you for the first task but you can't do that when we don't know what it is."

"What do you mean 'we'?"

"Do you really think I'm going to let you compete in this tournament without having my help or a plan?"

"That's cheating, Danny. It's against the rules." He frowned.

"Letting a boy younger than seventeen compete in this tournament is also against the rules, not to mention irresponsible. But somehow that was allowed so I say screw the rules."

He just sighed but didn't went in against me anymore. He seemed tired. I can't imagine having a good night sleep when you're competing in a tournament for people with a death wish.

"Figuring out what the first task is, is the last thing on my mind right now."

"What! It should be the first thing on your mind every hour of the day! What could possibly be more important than finding a way to keep you alive?"

"Everybody thinks I did it on purpose." He sighed.

"That's stupid, not to mention that it comes from their own disappointment of not being picked by the goblet and you shouldn't let it get to you."

"Even Ron thinks it's true."

"Ron is an idiot."

I think I might even see the ghost of a smile on his lips but maybe it just appears that way because he looks so tired. I was going to repeat my first question again when I saw Harry staring at something behind me. Behind us a lot of Hogwarts students were wearing the same badges pinned on their school robes. It read 'Support Cedric Diggory' but after a while it flashed to 'Potter stinks'. What? And the people wearing them would grin at Harry in such a vicious way, I wanted to get up and hex the hell out of them but Harry stopped me before I could.

"It's not worth it." He sighed.

"There has to be some kind of rule against them. The teachers should forbid them to wear it." I said heatedly.

Harry didn't respond but I could tell he was really bothered by the fact the entire school had once again turned their back on him, just like his second year. You'd think the people would have more respect for the boy who rid their world of the darkest wizard of all time.

"I'm going to kill Diggory!" I grumbled.

"You don't even know if he had anything to do with it."

"Didn't you see the badges? They said 'support Cedric Diggory', who do you think made them?"

"Those badges are the least of my worries, Danny. Look what the Daily Prophet said today." He pointed to the paper lying next to him.

How did he even get a copy? I know he's doesn't subscribe to them anymore since that ridiculous reporter came to our house. I do because when I'm in France it's nice to be kept up to date about what's happing at home. I quickly scanned over the article about Harry, written by Rita Skeeters. With every line, the scowl on my forehead got bigger.

"'A twelve-year old boy whose eyes are glistening with the ghosts of his pasts?' What kind of retarded woman wrote this bullshit?"

"Rita Skeeter, vicious reporter if you ask me. If I had known she would twist my words like that I never would have let her interview me."

"This is more than just twisting your words. She's making you sound like some kind of bad boy with a death wish, desperate for attention. How do you fit that bill?"

He grinned a little, pleased that I was getting as worked up about this as I'm sure he had hoped I would. But with the badges and this ridiculous interview I had let him distract me of the reason I was here in the first place.

"Doesn't matter. We'll prove them all wrong first chance we get which will be the first task. Now how can we gain some information about what it is exactly?"

"I don't know, Danny. Teachers aren't allowed to help me."

"But nothing was said about helping me, right?" I smiled.

He seemed to be a little suspicious of what I had in mind and I hadn't even voiced my thought. No one would help Harry but I'm sure there had to be someone on the Hogwarts staff willing to give me that information. And I knew exactly who to go to. Before Harry could say anything else, I had gotten up and left the Great Hall. It was time for me to pay a little visit to Rubeus Hagrid.

Harry had told me more than once about the little visits he paid the gamekeeper. My father also had a lot of good things to say about Hagrid and I was convinced this was the person who could help me out. Since he had already told Harry some things before that he was supposed to keep a secret like whatever his three headed dog was guarding had something to do with Nicolas Flaming, I figured he would be the perfect person to tell me what the first task was. I arrived at his little cottage when he was just working in his yard.

"Hi Hagrid." I smiled.

He seemed surprised to find someone on this side of the domain. Harry already told me his size frightens some people and not a lot like to come close to him. None the less he didn't seem to realise who I was. Well, of course Harry didn't tell Hagrid about my existence either.

"Can I help yeh?" He asked me and his weird accent made me smile a little.

"I just thought I'd come and introduce myself to you. My name is Danny Potter."

"Harry's sister?"

I nodded.

"Well, come on in. I can make yeh some tea." He smiled at me.

I followed him into the cottage which might have had a normal size but looked really tiny since it was packed with furniture matching his posture. I sat down in one of the giant chairs, next to a dog that stared at me oddly. Hagrid offered me some tea and some biscuits I couldn't refuse. But once I had taken a bite, I no longer felt very hungry. Those cookies were hard as a rock and not all that tasty. Why had I forgotten that Harry had told me what an awful cook Hagrid was? It almost made me regret coming here.

"So Harry told me a lot of great things about you." I sucked up.

"He's a good kid. Yeh look a bit like him."

Noa had said the same thing. If I look so much like him then why are people always surprised when I tell them I'm his sister?

"Yeah, he is a good kid. That's why I don't understand Dumbledore is letting him compete in the Tournament." I directed the conversation to the subject I wanted to talk about.

"Dumbledore must be havin' a reason. He's a wise man."

"I just wish we knew what to expect of it. I don't even know what the first task is."

I could see he was starting to get a little suspicious of the reason I had come to visit but I quickly changed the conversation to one of his soft spots.

"I read they used a cockatrice as one of the tasks once. Beautiful animal don't you think?"

"Gorgeous. Of course I have more of a sof' spo' fer the creatures they use this year."

So they were using some kind of animal for the task. I think he saw the eager look in my eyes after he had said that.

"Shouldn't ave said tha'." He mumbled.

"What animal are they using, Hagrid? Please tell me."

"Yeh should be goin'. Already said too much."

He was steering me towards the door but I wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Please Hagrid? I just want to help Harry. He can't do this on his own. He needs your help."

By the look in his eyes, I'd say I'm doing a pretty good job at changing his mind. But I might have been wrong because before I properly realised it he had put me out of his house.

"Just talk to Ron, that's all I'm sayin'."

And then he closed his door. Talk to Ron? What could he possibly know? Plus I really don't like Ronald Weasley and he's turned his back on his best friend at a moment Harry could really use his support. There is no way I'm saying anything to him. I'll just find out another way to gain information.

During the week that followed I had approached every teacher at Hogwarts but none were willing to tell me anything. Even McGonagall and she's the Head of Gryffindor. Isn't she supposed to support the ones in her house aka Harry? I had just rounded the corner when I saw someone I had been avoiding for a couple of days now.

"Danny! Hey Danny!" Diggory called but I stubbornly walked the other way.

Harry might believe he has nothing to do with the badges but I've got a other opinion. He also doesn't believe Harry didn't sign up for the tournament and that just makes me dislike him more. And I actually thought he wasn't all that bad two weeks ago. He could have caught up with me easily if he wanted but I was glad he didn't. I don't think I'll be very civilised when he asks me why I don't want to talk to him. Instead I bumped into someone I was willing to talk to.

"_Hey, I've been looking all over the place for you since Tuesday."_ Jonathan smiled at me.

"_Yeah, I've been kind of busy lately."_

That was very true. I had been running from one side of the castle to the other, trying to loosen the professors' tongues. Not with any result so far.

"_Was there something specific you needed me for?"_

"_Yes, I wanted to ask you something. Apparently it is tradition that a Triwizard Tournament also has a Yule Ball. It will be during the Christmas Holiday so it's not any time soon but I wanted to make sure I could go with the girl I want. So Danny, will you be my date for the Yule Ball?" _He smiled.

"_Of course, I would love to." _I smiled back at him.

Honestly I hadn't really given much thought to the Yule Ball. I had heard about it but I had been too occupied with finding out the first task, to even think about the ball, let alone the person I wanted to go with. But it was nice to notice for once a benefit to the Tournament and not just the negative side. You know, the possibility of Harry dying and all.

"_Great, I promise I won't step on your toes then." _He grinned.

"_You're probably just hoping I won't remember that promise when the Yule Ball is finally there." _I laughed.

I talked some more to Jonathan but eventually I had to go to the library to make my homework. I was going to do my homework with Noa but it will probably result in her giving me all the answers. Arriving at the library I saw her sitting at a table, waving me over.

"_Guess what!"_ I smiled excitedly.

"_Is this another one of your little riddles I will never guess? If it is, can't you just tell me?"_ She sighed. She has played this game too many times.

"_Jonathan just asked me to go with him to the Yule Ball!" _

"_Wow, that's fast. Congratulations, I know you wanted to go with him."_

How come she knew that before I did? For the rest of the hour we discussed the Yule Ball that was still two months away but that way we didn't have to work on our homework. The hour was much more productive if you asked me. Noa didn't have someone specific she wanted to go to the ball with but maybe that's better. Then you can't get disappointed when the one guy doesn't ask you. Maybe I could set her up with Harry. That might cheer her up. And I'm sure he'll never be able to get a date himself.

When I was about to leave the library I saw someone familiar sitting in a far corner. Though I don't like Hermoine Granger, she is my brother's friend and one of the only people still talking to him. That should count for something. Reluctantly I made my over to her table, noticing that someone in a Durmstrang uniform was watching her from behind one of the bookshelves. Creepy.

"Hi."

She seemed surprised to see me as the one who spoke to her but nonetheless greeted me back.

"You're friends with Weasley, right?"

"If you mean Ron then the answer would be yes."

"About a week ago, Hagrid implied that Weasley might know something more about the first task. Could you ask him about it?"

"Wait, why would Ron know something about that and why don't you just ask him yourself?"

"I don't know why he would know something but that's what Hagrid told me. I won't ask him myself because I refuse to talk to the guy who doesn't believe his best friend."

And then I left the library. I was hungry.

I don't know if she had actually asked Weasley about it but two days later I saw him coming towards us when I was sitting by the lake with Harry. Granger was with Weasley and seemed to be discussing something with him rather loudly. The younger Weasley girl was sort of hopping after them.

"Ronald wanted me to tell you that Seamus told him that Dean was told by Parvati that Hagrid is looking for you." She said to Harry.

What? That were just too many names in one sentence.

"Is that right? Well,...what?" Harry said, just as confused as I was.

Thank you brother! At least someone else thought it was just as ridiculous as it sounded to me. Granger sighed again and went back to Ron. Why did she have to tell it anyway? Didn't the guy have a mouth of his own? Or was he really that juvenile he didn't want to say a word to Harry?

"Dean was told by Parvati that... Please don't ask me to say it again. Hagrid is looking for you."

"Well, you can tell Ron-" Harry started.

"I'm not an owl!"

Wow, little miss know-it-all could actually stand up for herself. I might have to grow some respect for her,... or not. Then the three of them left and it was still just me and Harry.

"Are your conversations always like that? Rather entertaining I must say."

"Just shut up, Danny."

Later that evening Harry went out to find Hagrid. I wanted to accompany him but he told me not to. Usually I don't actually listen to him but I wanted to hang out with my friends for a change and he obviously doesn't want me there. Only the next morning I found out what had happened after Harry left for Hagrid's.

"He had asked me to bring the cloak and then he led me to the Forbidden Forest." Harry told me over breakfast.

"Why did he want you to take the cloak with you?"

"He had a sort of date with the Headmistress of Beauxbatons."

"A date with Madame Maxine?" I snorted.

Now that is not a pretty image. I would have laughed a little longer but Harry seemed anxious to tell me the rest of the story.

"Then he lead us to this open place in the woods where there was a lot of noise coming from. There were dragons in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. That's the first task: dragons."

I think I prefer the idea of him fighting a cockatrice. A dragon is even more dangerous than that.

"Dragons?"

"Yeah."

He seemed even more discouraged than he had the past weeks since he found out he had to compete in the tournament. It might all be becoming a little too real now.

"Did you get a good look at it? Do you think you could recognise them in a book?" I asked eagerly.

I was glad we had an idea now of what the first task might be, even if I would have preferred it to be a little less dangerous and a little easier.

He nodded.

"Good, I'll search for a book on dragons and as soon as I find it, I need you to show me what breeds they were."

"Wait, there's something else." Harry stopped me.

There's more? Please don't let him have to fight a dragon and do a tap dance at the same time.

"It's not fair that I know this and the other Champions don't. I should tell them."

"No Harry, now is not the moment to play fair. The less your competitors know, the bigger your advantage and the lesser chance there is for you to get seriously injured. Be a little selfish."

I do know Harry well enough to know he won't listen to a thing I just said. He'll go and tell the others anyway. Whether it's in his best interest or not. Sometimes his heart is too big to be healthy.

"Fleur already knows since Madame Maxine saw them as well and according to Hermoine, Krum knows as well. I don't know how she knows that but that's what she told me. So if I understand correctly all the champions know except Cedric. That doesn't seem fair."

"You want to help the guy who has been spreading these ridiculous badges all over the school? He doesn't deserve your help." I got a little angry.

"I honestly don't believe he's responsible for that - Don't roll your eyes, Danny! - and it should still be a fair competition."

His answer made me snort louder than before. How was this a fair competition to begin with when one of the champions was at least two years younger than the others?

"Fine, tell him if you must. But do realise you're throwing away your only advantage." I said before getting up and leaving the Great Hall.

I spend the rest of the day trying to find a book on dragons. It took me a long time and the librarian did look a bit suspicious when I asked her where I could find a book on the different dragon breeds. Maybe she realised I know what the first task is but would the professors actually tell her what it is?

I finally found the right book named 'Fantastic '_Beasts and where to find them_'. It's the largest book I'll ever read in my life but I guess that's a sacrifice I'll have to make. I had been skimming through it when someone sat down next to me. I quickly closed the book since I wasn't supposed to know there were dragons involved in the competition and why else would I be looking in this book? I got really annoyed when I realised it was Cedric Diggory sitting next to me. That's just great!

"Hi, what are you reading there?" He smiled.

"None of your business." I spat.

"Something about dragons maybe?" He grinned slightly.

Stupid, stupid Harry. I should have just glued him to his seat then he wouldn't have been able to tell Diggory about his discovery.

"Harry was obviously stupid enough to tell you about the first task." I grumbled.

"Stupid? I'm glad he told me."

Of course he was glad, he just had that piece of information thrown in his lap, without even having to lift a finger. Story of his life, I'm sure.

"If he was looking after his own interest, he would have kept that information to himself."

"That just means he's a better person than you, right?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"He also told me you didn't want him to tell me. You would have kept that information to yourself?"

"Of course I would have. You don't deserve Harry's help." I bit.

"Why are you so hostile? Is it because I didn't believe at first that Harry had nothing to do with his name being pulled out of the goblet? Because I believe it now and I even apologised to Harry about the badges."

"What? You apologise and that makes it okay? Those badges are mean and I honestly thought you were better than spreading them around the school."

I no longer had it in me to act civil to him and stood up. I had found my book so I no longer felt the need to stay here, especially if he was there. But he didn't just let me walk away. When I had just left the library, I heard rushed footsteps behind me and Diggory was there again to stop me.

"Is that what you're angry about? I didn't have anything to do with the badges, I even asked my friends to stop wearing them."

"If you had nothing to do with those stupid badges then how come your name is on them?" I huffed while trying to push him aside but his two years older frame was harder to move than it seemed.

"I don't know who made them. Probably a Slytherin, to spite Harry but they weren't my idea. Do you see me wearing one?" He asked me while spreading his arms.

I didn't want to believe him but then again, spreading those badges around the school did sound more like something a Slytherin would do instead of him. If he had spread them, wouldn't he be bragging about it?

"Fine, I believe you." I sighed.

A smile spread on his face and I was already regretting saying those words.

"Great, could we go back to being friends then?" He grinned.

"We were never friends, Diggory. Just because you aren't responsible for the badges, doesn't mean you're not still my brother's competitor. Not to mention that I didn't even like you the first time I met you." I snapped, I was still rather pissed at him for tolerating his friends mocking Harry.

"Okay, so not friends. How about acquaintances?" He smiled, completely unfazed by me yelling at him.

"Can you not take a hint? I want you to go away!" I pronounced every word clearly so he'd just get the message.

"Yeah, okay." He sighed, seeming sad now. Was this guy manic or something?

The sad look on his face made me feel bad, as if I had just hit a defenceless little puppy with my belt. Not that I'd ever do that but he made me feel that way. Before I could say anything else, he had already rounded the corner. Whatever, I'll play nicer next time I run into him but now I needed to find Harry.

I couldn't find Harry anywhere so I had to wait until tomorrow. Or... I could just try and find a way into the Gryffindor common room. I think I'll go for option number two. Strangely enough it wasn't all that hard to find, all I had to do was find a Gryffindor willing enough to show me the passage to his common room and to tell me the password. I only needed one volunteer but I found two.

"Well if it isn't little Danny Potter." A teasing voice came from behind me.

I turned around and looked into two identical grinning faces.

"Ah, the Weasley twins. Just who I was looking for." I smiled.

"Really? What did-"

"-you need us for?"

I'm so glad me and Harry aren't the kind of twins that finish each other sentences. I think it must get annoying on a daily basis.

"I'm looking for your common room."

"And you were hoping-"

"-we'd tell you where it is?" Fred finished.

"Yes."

"Are you going to wreak some havoc?" They asked me.

"Sure." I shrugged.

As long as they're willing to show me their common room, then I'm willing to make a scene for them. But only after I find out the dragon breeds that will be used in this tournament. That was slightly more important.

"Wonderful, follow us."

Fred and George led me through so many passageways that I would never be able to remember them. Maybe that's exactly why they did so. Finally we arrived in front of a painting of a, let's say well fed woman.

"Banana Fritters."

What the hell? Before I could ask George or Fred if they had lost their minds, the portrait swung open and revealed a passage. They both nudged me to enter and so I did. At the end of the tunnel I came into the common room. It wasn't all that bad, looked rather cosy even. The walls were red of course and there was a nice warm fireplace. I wouldn't mind living here either. However I came for something more important than gawking at their common room. Only when I wanted to ask the twins where I could find Harry, did I realise the other students were staring at me. Right, they're not supposed to bring non-Gryffindors in their tower. Well, it's not really my fault. It's not like I had to force them or anything.

"What is this? Fred! George! Did you give her the password?" Some scrawny looking guy with a badge that said he was a prefect, scolded them.

"Yes, we did." They announced proudly.

"What are you going to do about it, Cyril?" They teased the boy.

Obviously the boy had no real authority or power because he just turned red and left it at that.

"Where's Harry?" I asked the twins.

"Up those stairs, the door that says 4th years." They said.

I quickly went up the stairs while the Cyril boy tried to stop me by saying girls weren't allowed in the boy dorms but of course I couldn't have cared less. I found the door with '4th years' on it and opened it. I immediately noticed Harry sitting on his bed, twisting his wand between his fingers.

"So this is where your other half lives." I grinned slightly.

"Danny? Wha-? How did you get in here?"

"The Weasley twins were nice enough to show me their common room. I have something for you." I said while pulling the book on dragons out of my bag.

"Now which dragons did you see?"

We spend the next hour trying to figure out what breed the four dragons were that had been brought here from Romania. I wasn't too keen on the conclusion.

_The Chinese Fireball, also known as the Liondragon is a dragon native to China. The Fireball is scarlet and smooth scaled with a fringe of golden spikes around its face. The Fireball's snout is slightly short ending with hooked beak on the top jaw. Its name is derived from the mushroom-shaped flame that is emitted through its nostrils when angered, along with the large mushroom shaped flame it shoots from his mouth. The Chinese Fireball breed of dragons generally yield females that are larger than males. Chinese Fireballs are also mentioned to be fast and clever, at least for a dragon. The eggs of the Chinese Fireball are crimson, speckled with gold, and the shells are prized by Chinese wizards. Its diet consists of most mammals, usually preferring pigs and deer._

"A fast and clever dragon? Let's hope you won't be up against that one." I said to a noticeable pale Harry.

_The Common Welsh Green dragon, or just Welsh Green is a native of Wales. It nests in the higher mountains regions where a reservation has been set up for it. This dragon is a relatively subdued breed. It prefers to prey mainly on sheep and other small mammals and to avoid human contact altogether. The Welsh Green's roar is rather distinctive and somewhat melodious and it issues its fire in narrow jets. The eggs of the Common Welsh Green are earthy brown, flecked with green. It is possible that a young Welsh Green may have been the actual cause of the Great Fire of London._

"Well, that one doesn't sound so bad and it avoids humans. With any luck he'll run away when you approach it."

Though I highly doubt it.

_The Hungarian Horntail is a dragon native to Hungary and is considered to be the most dangerous dragon breed. It has black scales, a spiked tail, and bronze horns protruding from its head. It has yellow eyes with vertical pupils. Its roar is yowling, screeching scream, and its flame can reach to about fifty feet. While having a very far reaching flame the Horntail's breath can reach extremely high temperatures. The Horntail's foods of choice include cattle, sheep and goat. Its eggs are cement-coloured with very hard shells. Along with their viciousness Horntails are shown being extremely fast while in flight._

"It's like the bad-ass among dragons! The most dangerous one." I shivered.

Since Harry's luck has officially ran out when his name got pulled out of the goblet, I think the chance he'll be getting this dragon as an opponent is too big to my liking.

_The Swedish Short-Snout is a dragon native to Sweden. It lives in wild, uninhabited areas, mostly the northern mountains of Sweden. Its scales are silvery blue, and its powerful flame is also a brilliant blue colour and hot enough to reduce timber and bone to ashes in seconds. Its attractive skin is much sought after for the making of gloves and shields. Since it rarely comes into contact with humans, the Short-Snout has less deaths to its name than most dragons. However, the Short-Snout is nevertheless one of the most dangerous species due to its agile flying and the extremely hot fire that it produces. The Short-Snout tends to be less agile on the ground because of its lack of forward limbs._

"We don't really want that one either. Do me a favour and choose the Welsh Green if you're given the option."

Honestly I didn't want Harry facing any of these dragons. Every single one of them seemed to be lethal.

"Now we need a plan, a spell of some sort to use against the dragon. Maybe we could try a different approach for every one of them. For the Chinese Fireball I'd say we-"

"I already have a plan."

"Since when?"

"This afternoon, when I talked to professor Moody. He helped me to find a way around the dragon."

"Around the dragon?"

"We have to steal one of its eggs he told me."

Of course they'd have to take something from the dragon that they would guard with their lives and kill anything that comes too close to it. I'm starting to think they want the champions to die.

"And how are you planning on doing that?"

"I use my wand to summon my broom."

Huh?

"I should use something I'm good at to my advantage. The other champions might be masters at transfiguration or charms but I'm a good flyer."

"You want to out fly a dragon?"

It didn't seem like the greatest idea in the world to me but unfortunately it was the only one we had. Harry seemed to be rather confident in his flying skills. I do know that Harry is an excellent flyer but he has never faced a dragon while playing for the Quidditch Cup.

"I'll just have to work a little on the summoning spell."

"You haven't mastered it yet?"

"I will. And the task isn't for another two weeks."

So we decided to stick to the plan Moody had suggested. He might be a real lunatic but he is a great wizard as well. I hope he knows what he's doing.

_6.242 words: this is the longest chapter I've ever written! What did you think of it? _


	9. The First Task

_Thank you __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__for being such a loyal reviewer. _

Chapter 9

The past two weeks I had been pushing Harry into practicing the spell until he had completely mastered it. Now that he has, I'm feeling a little more reassured but I'm still biting off my nails this morning. Today is the First Task and Harry has already left for the Champions tent. I was planning on paying him a visit there when I saw Rita Skeeter walking on the terrain. I was ready to give her a piece of my mind when someone stopped me from approaching her.

"_What are you doing?" _I yelled at Jonathan.

"_Stopping you from doing something stupid. Don't think she won't love to write a story on the temper of Harry Potter's sister."_

I was going to yell at him that I didn't care if she wrote a story on me, I just wanted her to leave Harry alone, when I realised what he had called me. Since when does he know Harry Potter is my brother?

"_How do you know that?"_

"_Well it wasn't too hard to figure out that Harry Potter and Danny Potter might be related to each other but I just figured he was a cousin or something. I thought you would have told me if your brother was the Harry Potter. But then someone in class mentioned that you're his sister. I just don't get why you didn't tell me that yourself, he's not really someone to be embarrassed about."_

"_I just didn't want you to like me because of who my brother is." _I sighed.

"_If that were the case, I would have asked your brother to go to the Yule ball with me and not you." _He smiled.

I laughed. I was relieved he wasn't mad about it and it didn't hurt to hear him say it was me he liked and not my famous relatives. I was going to accompany Jonathan to the arena that was placed here for the First Task when I saw Hermione Granger leaving the Champions tent. What had she been doing there?

"_I just have to go talk to that girl. I'll see you in there, okay?"_

Jonathan nodded and left. I wanted to know what she had heard in the tent.

"What did you do in there?"

"I wanted to wish Harry good luck but instead I just became the subject of Rita Skeeter's new scoop." She grumbled. "Apparently she thinks I'm Harry's girlfriend now."

"... Are you?" I asked her.

"No, of course not. We're just friends."

Now that we established that, we walked to the arena in silence. When I wanted to sit down in the front, she pulled me to the seat next to her.

"What are you doing?"

"We're rooting for the same champion, right? We might as well stick together." She shrugged but I think she's just a little friendless.

I stayed seated anyway. My friends would all be cheering for Fleur and I do want her to do well but maybe it wouldn't be that bad to sit with someone's who's actually on my brother's side for a change.

"I still don't get why he's going to use his broom. I think he might have done better to research some spells that affect dragons."

But that doesn't mean we have to start up a conversation.

"It was Moody's idea and Harry wanted to follow it through."

"Professor Moody is crazy."

"Aren't all geniuses a little crazy?"

"He's not a genius, he's a cruel man who doesn't know boundaries or morals."

"Wow, what did the man ever do to you?"

"He performed the Unforgiveable Curses in our Defence Against The Dark Arts class."

"He what?"

All the respect I had for that man just flew out the window. Those curses are unforgivable for a reason, using them is good enough to send you to Azkaban, twice. As an auror he should know better than that. Using those curses doesn't really sound like the great auror who taught my father everything. Dad is always full of praise for that man.

"He used all three of them on spiders. You should have seen the look on Neville's face when he performed the Cruciatus curse."

"You don't know?" I asked her stunned.

Of course Neville Longbottom would be upset to see someone use the Cruciatus curse in front of him. After all that curse is the reason he's forced to live with his grandmother. I had just assumed Miss Know-it-all knew that as well.

"Know what?"

"Never mind."

When Bartomius Crouch announced that the first task would begin, someone sat down on Granger's other side, Ron Weasley. I wanted to ask him what he was doing here since he didn't support Harry but someone was entering the arena and that took up all my attention. It wasn't Harry but it was Cedric Diggory and he had to face a very vicious looking dragon. The Swedish Short-Snout.

There was something really magnificent about seeing a real live dragon for the first time and if I hadn't been too busy being nervous about this task, I might have appreciated the gorgeous creature.

Diggory transfigured a rock into a dog. I didn't understand why he would do so until the dragon got distracted by the dog. This gave Diggory the perfect opportunity to approach the nest and take the golden egg they had to retrieve. Unfortunately the dragon noticed him being too close to its nest and let out a hot blue flame in his direction. I swear I was sitting at the end of my seat with anticipation and worry. I remember reading about this dragon and it stated that his flame was hot enough to turn bone into ashes. Right now I was really glad Harry didn't get stuck with that dragon. Before Diggory could get the hell out of there with the golden egg locked in his hands, the dragon let out another flame that burned the side of Diggory's face. Just like everyone else in the place I gasped when I saw this happen. Mediwizards and witches rushed to his side and took him with them to a tent while Dragon keepers were trying to get the dragon out of there. I hope Cedric is okay.

When the crowd had calmed down, Bartomius spoke up again to announce Diggory's score. He had been really fast to get the egg but there were points deducted because he got hurt. Seriously?

"This tournament is madness." I mumbled while shaking my head.

"Then why are you here?" The redhead butted in.

"Because unlike some people here, I care about Harry!" I snapped.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He yelled back.

"That you obviously don't care about him. Else you wouldn't have dropped him the second he got selected for this competition just because you felt a little left out!"

The Granger girl tried to stop us from continuing the argument but she might as well have been talking to a wall.

"If I didn't care about him, then why did I tell him about the dragons?"

"You told him nothing! Hagrid showed him the dragons."

"After I told him to do so."

I still didn't quite believe his pathetic excuse but the next champion was entering the arena and I was once again glad it wasn't Harry. Fleur seemed slightly afraid but who wouldn't be after a dragon just tried to burn of Diggory's face. I cheered her on because she was after all the champion of my school, not to mention a friend.

She had the smartest approach if you asked me. She used a spell that made the dragon fall asleep. It took some time to work but eventually the dragon fell down. All she had to do now was take the golden egg from the nest. Unfortunately when she approached the dragon, it let out a flame as a snore and her robe caught on fire. I could see her panicking so much she didn't even think of a spell to put the fire out. Only after jumping around a bit, she thought of it. I was afraid she might have woken up the dragon but it still seemed very much out of it. She took the golden egg and left the arena. I applauded for her like everyone else.

"If you care so much about Harry, then why are you cheering for his competition!" Weasley bit.

He's not even worth talking to but I did feel anger rile up inside of me. I hope this won't last long because I don't know for how long I'll be able to sit here and not punch that guy in the face. Fleur's score wasn't as good as Diggory's because she lost a lot of time making the dragon fall asleep but it wasn't a bad score either since she didn't really get hurt.

Next up was Viktor Krum which meant Harry was now sitting all alone in the tent, probably way too nervous for his own good and with no one to distract him. I recognised his dragon as the Chinese Fireball which meant... Oh God, Harry got stuck with Horntail, the most vicious one of all dragons. Great.

Krum pointed his wand at the dragon and I saw him mumble a spell. I didn't know which one it was and nothing seemed to be happening to the dragon until it suddenly let out a horrible screech. I had to cover my ears because I was afraid I'd go deaf from the sound.

"He blinded the dragon. Genius." I heard Granger mumble from next to me.

But a blind dragon is a very pissed off dragon and it just started hitting everything and breathing fire everywhere. In the process Krum got the chance to grab the golden egg but the dragon itself had crushed half of its own eggs. Now that must cost him some points since he just prevented 2 creatures of an endangered species to ever be born. Strangely enough they didn't deduct that many points for it, less than they did with Diggory for getting hurt. Have I already mentioned how ridiculous I think this entire tournament is?

Finally it would be Harry's turn and I think I might even be more nervous than he must be right now and I'm not the one going to face a dragon. I just hope to God he will be alright. Please let him be okay.

Finally Harry came into the arena and I was surprised by how many people cheered him on. I had actually expected some people to boo. I saw him make his way over to the nest where the golden egg lay. Did he really think it was that easy? Maybe he did because he seemed really surprised when the dragon showed up behind him. The dragon was swiping his spiked tail in Harry's direction and breathing fire to him. I think I might forget to breath. Harry ran towards the rocks. What was he doing? Why wasn't he summoning his broom like we had planned? I almost screamed when the dragon threw him to the other side of the arena and he took a nasty fall.

"Come on, Harry." I heard Granger say under her breath.

He was hiding behind the rocks now, trying not to get hit with the flames the Horntail kept aiming at him. Why wasn't he doing anything? He was going to get hurt or maybe even worse, die if he didn't do something right now.

"Your wand, Harry! Use your wand!" I shouted at him.

"Accio Firebold!" He said while pointing his wand in the direction of the castle.

Finally! But I wasn't relaxing any time soon. It took some time for the broom to come all the way to the arena and in the mean time that dragon was still trying to roaster my brother. I heard a whooshing sound through the air and I know the Firebold was on its way and it was close. Right before Harry was going to have a face similar to Diggory's, he jumped on his broom and took off. I cheered along with everyone else, maybe I was even the loudest of them all. He tried to go for the egg but another flame from the dragon stopped him. The Horntail just wouldn't give him a break. He even tried to follow Harry by spreading it's wings and taking off. Luckily it was stuck on a chain. He tried to pull on it with all of its strength. And it just broke the chain! Now might be a good time to panic.

Harry tried to shake off the dragon by flying through the judges tribune but it went right after him, destroying the tribune on its way.

"Yeah! Whoohoo! Well done, dragon!" I could hear the Weasley twins shouting behind me.

Of course they found it amusing to see their professors being covered under what is left of the tribune. I would have too had I not been so worried about that dragon chasing Harry. We couldn't see anymore what was happening due to the fog hanging around but we did see that Harry and the Horntail were heading in the direction of the castle. That can't be good.

"What's happening?" I asked but no one could answer my question.

We were all trying to see something but they were too far away. But then I heard some boy saying Harry had fallen of his broom. What? How did he even know that? When I turned around a saw three boys on the back row holding binoculars. Couldn't they have said so earlier? I climbed the three rows up and grabbed them out of the boy's hands.

"Hey, those are mine." He whined.

I really didn't care I had just stolen them from a boy. I needed to see with my own two eyes that Harry was doing okay. It took me a while to find him but then I saw him flying straight towards a bridge or viaduct or whatever, with the dragon hot on his tail.

"Come on!" I whispered.

Harry flew through one of the holes but the dragon crashed right into the bridge, taking down the whole thing with him, including Harry. I gasped. Where did he go! He didn't really crash, right?

"I can't see him anymore!" I panicked.

Everyone around me went silent. Why are they acting like he's dead? I just lost sight of him that's all. Right?

Suddenly a figure came up out of nowhere flying to the arena. It was Harry! I let out a breath I didn't realise I had been holding. I needed to sit down. This was too much for one day. Harry flew into the arena again and grabbed the egg. It was over. Thank god!

Everyone cheered and applauded and I had to admit that was one hell of a show. Harry was led back into the tent and Crouch announced the final score. Harry and Krum had the best score and shared the first place, Diggory was second and Fleur third. I could hardly contain my joy. Not only had Harry brought this task to a good end, he was also on the winning hand. I tried to make my way over to the tent but due to the mass, I couldn't get there till twenty minutes later, Granger and Weasley right behind me.

As soon as I saw Harry, I pulled him into a hug. I was just so glad he was okay. He didn't die! I almost had to fight back tears. I had been so frightened when I had seen him fall down.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Weasley said.

He and Harry both looked really uncomfortable right now. How do guys make up after a fight? Well, I was about to witness it.

"I reckon you must be barking mad to put your name in the Goblet of Fire."

"Caught on, have you? Took you long enough." Harry commented.

"Everyone thought you had done it. They were all saying it behind your back."

That might not have been the best thing to say.

"Brilliant, that makes me feel loads better."

"At least I warned you about the dragons." Weasley said.

There he goes again with that story. I'm still not sure whether to believe it or not. But then again it's not really my forgiveness he's looking for.

"Hagrid told me about the dragons." Harry said.

"No no no, I did. Don't you remember? I told Hermoine to tell you that Seamus told me that Parvati had told Dean that Hagrid was looking for you. Seamus never actually told me anything so it was really me all along. I thought we'd be alright after you figured that out."

What? Is that gibberish to anyone other than me?

"Who could possibly figure that out? It's completely mental."

They both laughed a little but didn't really say what they wanted to say. At least that's what I thought.

"I guess it is. I suppose I was a bit distraught." Ron admitted.

They smiled slightly at each other.

"Boys." Granger said.

Wait, was that it? Is everything okay now between the two of them? But no one apologised, no one yelled. This sure is different with girls. I don't get it at all. But right now they were back to the way things were before. The three of them were laughing and joking around and suddenly I had become the odd one out again. Well, I guess I should leave them to it then. I was on my way out of the tent when a voice called me back.

"So what do you think of my new look?" Cedric Diggory grinned at me from his hospital bed.

Even though half of his face was covered in an orange paste, he still looked pretty good for someone whose face had just been roasted.

"You couldn't have picked a more manly colour than orange?" I grinned.

"Apparently you don't get to pick the colour when your face is half burned off."

At least he still had his sense of humour. I thought I'd play nice this time since I had been rather rude last time I spoke to him.

"Will it heal?" I asked him while stepping closer to his bed, indicating clearly that I didn't mind having a conversation with him, at least not at this very moment.

"Madam Pomfrey said it won't even leave a scratch."

"That's good. I'm sure you wouldn't be as popular anymore if you had an ugly face."

"Is that your way of telling me I'm handsome?" He grinned.

"What? No, of course not! I'm just saying that there are some girls who are under the impression, the wrong impression, that you're a sort of good looking boy and not even they would want to go to the ball with you if you got even uglier. And that would just be sad."

Nice save, Danny. However I don't think he bought it.

"Hey, I got something for you. It's in the top drawer."

"What is it?"

"Look for yourself." He smiled.

I opened the drawer but there was so much stuff in there that I didn't know what it was he wanted to give to me. However there was this little box that was moving. What was in it?

"I noticed you liked dragons. You seemed pretty awed by them when I first got in the arena and you had also been engrossed in a book about them last time I saw you."

A miniature version of the dragon he had faced was now sitting in the palm of my hand. How did he even get it?

"That's how it was decided who'd go first. I pulled that one out. It's a-"

"Swedish Short-Snout."

"Yeah, exactly. I knew you had a thing for dragons."

Why would he give this to me? Why would he give it away in the first place? And why to me? We weren't friends, we weren't even acquaintances. I had made that very clear last time I spoke to him.

"Why would I want this?"

"Because it's cool and my mother would kill me if I brought it in my house."

"I don't need it. Harry has one himself and let's face it, he had a cooler dragon." I told him while putting the miniature dragon on his bed.

"Harry gave his to the Weasley twins."

What? Oh man, I really wanted a small Horntail.

"This might be the only chance you get at owning a miniature dragon. I'm pretty sure there are only four of them." He grinned while holding his hand out with the little dragon sitting in it.

I hesitated. Being the owner of such a miniature dragon did sound pretty cool to me but there had to be some kind of catch. Plus isn't there anyone else he knows who'd like it as well. One of his friends maybe?

"That's a gift. And you only give those to your family and friends. I'm neither. Why would you give it to me?"

"Call it a peace offer if you must. A token of our non-friendship, our non-acquaintance, our unable-to-label-relationship."

I snorted. You do have to admit the boy's kind of witty. I outstretched my arm toward the little dragon but stopped before I could take it.

"Just take it, Danny." He sighed.

"On one condition: you don't call me Danny. You call me Potter because there is no way I'll ever call you by your first name, Diggory."

"Deal." He smiled and I took the little Short-Snout out of his palm.

"Does this mean I get to say hi to you now in the hallway?" He asked smiling.

"Only on a good day." I grinned.

Diggory wasn't all that bad, I guess. He did just give me this cool miniature dragon. By the way, this little fellow is still in need of a name.

"I'm going to call you Frye." I told the little thing.

"What would you call him that?" Diggory asked me.

"Because his big brother's greatest accomplishment was frying your face off." I laughed and he just rolled his eyes at me.

I left the tent shortly after to make my way to the Beauxbatons common room at Hogwarts. Sound kind of weird, right? I'm guessing the atmosphere there won't be too great since Fleur ended last. I still think she did really great. I wouldn't want to face a dragon even though I'm carrying a mini replica of one in my pocket. I should put it in my dorm first. When I entered our little common room, I was immediately greeted by Noa.

"_Today was amazing. I can't believe your brother pulled it off and now he's also taking the lead. What were you worried about it the first place?" _She shouted excitedly in my face.

"_Don't get too excited just yet. There are still two tasks to go and over a hundred more possible ways for him to die in this thing."_

"_Eternal optimist I see." _She sighed.

Frye chose that moment to peep out of my pocket.

"_What is that?"_

"_Shhhh, quiet Noa! Follow me upstairs."_

I like magical creatures, I really do but the only one I own is an owl named Puengi and she's not all that magical. She's a dark brown Western Screech Owl and I've had her since the first year I attended Beauxbatons. I just hope she won't feel the need to eat Frye since he's that small and all but I'm sure he can perfectly defend himself since he breathes flames and I'm sure Puengi won't appreciate him setting her feathers on fire.

"_Look what I got." _I told Noa while proudly showing off my new little pet.

"_Where did you get that?"_

"_The champions each had to pull a miniature replica of their dragon out of a bag to see which one they would face. Isn't he cute?"_

"_A replica? But he doesn't look like the dragon your brother had to steal the egg from."_

"_That's because it's not a Horntail. My brother gave his away before I found out he even had one. This is a Swedish Short-Snout." _I explained to her.

"_Then where did you get that one?"_

"_Diggory gave it to me."_

"_He gave you the dragon? Just like that?"_ She asked me with big eyes.

"_Yeah, I thought it was weird as well but he insisted that I'd take it and I really wanted to have it."_

"_He just gave it to you?" _She repeated.

"_Yes, I believe I already said so."_

"_Does he like you?"_She asked me.

"_What? No! Why would you think that?" _I shouted at her a little shocked by her suggestion.

"_Because he just gave his pet dragon to you and you're not friends so I figured the only logical explanation is that he's crushing on you or something."_

"_He doesn't think of me that way. We're not even on first name basis."_

"_Do you think of him that way?"_

"_Will you stop it? Nobody is crushing on anyone. Besides I'm into Jonathan."_

"_You can like two boys at once." _She shrugged.

"_Well, I can't. Now can we please drop this ridiculous subject?"_

"_Fine. What's its name?"_

"_Frye."_

"_Why?"_

"_You don't want to know." _I grinned.

Despite Noa's questions about why Diggory would give me the miniature Short-Snout, I was really glad I had eventually accepted it. Now I still have to warm up my parents to the prospect of homing a little dragon during the summer holidays. I don't think my dad will be that hard to convince, my mum however would be a lot harder.

I had left Frye upstairs with Puengi after realising the two got along. Puengi even let the little dragon sleep in her cage and she already hates it whenever Hedwig comes too close to her. But then again both mine and Harry's owl have a strong will and that always clashes. At least in the world of owls it does. I returned to the common room to tell Fleur I thought she did a great job but when I got there, most people had already gone to bed. Well, I guess I'll just have to tell her in the morning. I was about to go back to my dorm when I saw Jonathan sitting in one of the couches.

"_Hi there." _I smiled while sitting down next to him.

"_Hey, I haven't talked to you since lunch."_

"_Yeah, well I've been a little busy with fearing for my brother's life." _I joked.

I'm glad he knows and I'm even happier about the fact that he didn't even seem to care who my brother was. Maybe I should have told him sooner but I'm glad it didn't seem to affect our relationship or whatever he and I have.

"_You acted different today." _He said while staring at my face intensely.

"_Really? Different how?"_

"_I don't know. Just more open I guess. It was very interesting to see so many emotions cross your face during the few minutes your brother had to face the dragon." _He smiled.

Well at least someone had enjoyed me going through fear, frustration and desperation in large amounts today. I certainly didn't.

"_You're a good sister, taking care of your brother like that."_

"_Thank you."_ I smiled.

It was nice to actually hear it for a change. I don't think Harry thanks me enough for all the things I do for him but I'm glad Jonathan seems to have noticed.

"_I have to ask you something."_

"_Okay."_

"_I know you told me at the beginning of the year that you and the other Hogwarts Champion don't have anything going on but, are you sure about that?"_

Oh, not another one. It was already bad enough that my best friend though Diggory was crushing on me but now Jonathan is asking me if there's something between us. There is nothing!

"_Of course I'm sure about that. Why would you even ask me such a thing? I don't like him in that way, frankly I don't even know if I like him in any way. If I had a thing for him, don't you think I would go to the Yule ball with him instead of you? Honestly it's just plain stupid that you-"_

His lips had caught me off guard. His lips were on my lips. Jonathan was kissing me. I was getting my first kiss! I tried kissing him back but he pulled away soon after that. When I opened my eyes again, that I had apparently closed, I saw Jonathan's smiling face in front of me.

"_Just had to make sure there wasn't someone else you liked." _He grinned.

"_Do you want to check again?" _I grinned back.

He just smiled and pulled me back in for another kiss.


	10. Yule Ball

_I want to thank __**Mugglebornsrule **__and __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__for reviewing the previous chapter. _

Chapter 10

The First Task had passed without it costing Harry his life, I was now officially Jonathan's girlfriend and I had an awesome little pet dragon. This was the best day I've had since I got here. The entire school was preparing for the Yule Ball now. I heard the Hogwarts students actually got a lesson on how to dance. Luckily we just had to see for ourselves if we could dance or not. I ran into Harry and his friends after they had their dance class.

"Ready to be the next star in ballroom dancing?" I laughed while sitting down at his table.

"Very funny. Honestly I'm more concerned about finding a date than dancing." He sighed.

What did I say? Harry can't find a date himself, he can't even talk to a girl with the exception of Granger but I'm wondering if he even noticed her gender. Weasley seemed to agree with Harry about it being troublesome to find a date. The fact that Wealsey can't seem to find a date doesn't shock me at all. Who could possibly want to go with him?

The ball was in four days, if Harry wanted to have a date, he needed to find one soon. I could set him up with one of my friends but they don't speak English so that might not be that much fun. Noa's English was the best out of all of my friends but she was already going to the ball with some guy from Durmstrang.

I had written to my parents last week about the ball and my mother had promised me she would find both me and Harry outfits to wear. My mother has good taste in clothing so I rely completely on her choice. I definitely know she won't make us wear something as disgusting as Weasley's dress robes. He had gotten them through owl mail from his mother a few weeks ago. He had thought it was his sister's dress. He definitely didn't like it when Granger told him he had to wear it.

"You could always ask McGonagall." George winked at his younger brother.

"Shut up, George!"

"We'll be the only ones without a date. Well, us and Neville." Weasley grinned.

"Don't want to burst your bubble but Neville's already got someone." Granger said.

"Now I'm really depressed." He grunted.

"Get a move on or all the good ones will have gone." Fred butted in.

"Who are you going with?" Weasley asked his brother.

Fred didn't answer him but threw a piece of paper at some girl's head. She turned around irritated.

"What?"

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" He asked her while making dance moves.

"Yeah, sure."

You should have seen Wealsey's face, probably jealous that it came so easily for his brother. Well, the twins are more charming that their brother but I don't think Weasley should try that approach. It will just result in rejection. Then again no matter how he asks a girl, it will always end in rejection I thought to myself with a smile on my face.

"Oi, Hermoine... You're a girl." He said while leaning closer to Granger.

Oh, that can't possibly end well.

"Very well spotted." She said calmly but I could tell she was offended by his comment. What girl wouldn't be?

"Come with one of us. Come on, it's one thing for a bloke to show up alone, for a girl it's just sad."

And that is definitely the wrong thing to say.

"I won't be going alone, because believe it or not, someone's asked me! And I said yes!" She said angrily while getting up and leaving the table.

"She's lying , right?" Weasley asked Harry.

"If you say so."

I may not be a fan of Granger but it was just so rude of him to assume she didn't have a date and now he was claiming she must be lying because he can't imagine anyone asking her? What a great friend he is. She's not an ugly girl and someone could have asked her even though the only people I ever see her talk to are those two tactless boys sitting across me.

"Do you have a date?" Weasley suddenly asked me.

"Why? Do you want to go with me?"

The idea sort of appalled me. I definitely don't like the boy and I sort of figured that feeling was returned.

"Not really but I just figured Harry could take my sister and I..."

"Could take his? No offense and all, but I really don't want to be around you all evening."

He did take offense. Good.

"I've had a date for weeks now and even if I didn't, did you honestly think I'd want to go with you?"

Harry tried to get me to apologise but I had already gotten up. No need to stay with that buffoon any longer than I have to. The boy has accomplished to make two girls leave his table in less than five minutes. Probably not his record though. I could still hear them make a deal to find a date by the end of the day. Good luck with that.

"Hey Potter." Someone called out to me and when I turned around I came face to face with Diggory.

"Hello unlabeled one."

He grinned and walked with me through the halls of Hogwarts.

"Where are you heading?" He asked me.

"My dorm. My owl must be back now with a package containing my dress for the ball." I smiled.

"I'll walk you. I haven't been to the Beauxbatons section of the castle this year."

"It's not really that impressive, looks just like every other part of the castle." I shrugged.

"So how did you do during the dance lessons this morning?" I teased him a little.

"Not too bad, the professor even said I might have potential." He smiled.

"You won't be stepping on your date's toes then. That makes you a better partner than most guys in this castle, I'm sure."

"Do I sense a little bitterness? Will your date be stepping on your toes?" He teased lightly.

"I don't really know about his dancing skills but if he steps on my toes, I'll just stomp on his in return." I grinned. I really would.

"So you do have a date?"

Is Diggory also surprised I've gotten myself a date? I happen to be really great company on such an event.

"Of course I do, doesn't everyone have one by now? With a few exceptions of course." I said with my own brother and his retarded best friend in the back of my mind.

"I don't have one." He shrugged.

"What? Why not? I'm sure girls are lining up for you now that you've 'slayed the dragon'."

"I just haven't asked anyone." He shrugged again.

"Why not? Isn't there someone you want to ask?"

"Well, yes but she's kind of already going with someone else." He said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"That sucks, sorry. But you'll just have to ask another girl out and show that one girl what she's missing." I smiled.

Why am I trying to cheer him up? Maybe because I feel sorry for the people who can't go with the one they want. I'm so glad Jonathan asked me.

"Yeah, I guess I will. I have to go now. I'll see your dorm next time."

As if I would have actually let him in my dorm. So naïve. Diggory left, probably going to ask out the first girl he runs into. No, he'll think it over at least a little better than that because what if the first person he runs into is an ugly first year? Haha, that would be funny though.

Arriving in my dorm, I noticed my owl had dropped a package on my bed. Yes! My dress for the ball is finally here. Quickly I tore open the box to find black dress robes. What the hell? Oh, I get it. Those are Harry's, my dress lies under his robes. I threw Harry's clothes on my bed without being particularly careful with them and pulled my dress out of the box. I had been right to trust my mother's taste in clothing. The dress was beautiful. It had a blue colour but the fabric gave a special sort of glow to it. It was long enough so when I would wear it, it would barely touch the ground. I loved it and couldn't wait till Jonathan would see me in it.

I put the dress away and took the box with Harry's dress robes in it with me. He was going to need these soon and now I could go find out if he had found a date for the Yule Ball yet since he had made that deal with Weasley. Strangely enough it wasn't that hard to find the Gryffindor common room again. Good, because I've got the feeling I'll have to come here a lot more this year. The password hadn't changed because the woman in the frame, who is apparently called The Fat Lady, let me in when I said Banana Fritters. Finding Harry wasn't difficult at all since he was sitting in the common room reading a book.

"I come in peace, bearing presents." I smiled while holding out the package to him.

"What is it?" He asked me after setting down his book and opening the box.

"Your dress robes, idiot. Speaking of the Yule ball, how was the date hunting?" I asked eagerly.

"Not good." He sighed.

"Did you even ask anyone or did you chicken out again?"

I'm sure that Harry could get a date if he just asked a girl. I've seen the looks that some girls give him. There are quite a few that would love to go to the ball with him. Of course that won't happen unless he opens his mouth and actually ask one.

"I did. But she already had a date."

What is it with all the girls already having dates when a champion wants to ask them out? Then again Harry and Diggory waited way too long before asking someone.

"Who did you ask?" I asked him, eager to find out which girl had caught my brother's attention.

"A girl from Ravenclaw. Her name is Cho."

Before I could ask him for her last name, a group of people came in the common room. One of them being Weasley boy, getting steered by a few girls to the couch.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked him.

"He just asked Fleur Delacour out." The sister said.

What? He asked Fleur out? He couldn't even ask a regular girl out so now he's going for one of the most desired girls in the school? That doesn't make sense, at all!

"What did she say?" Harry asked him the ridiculous question.

"No of course." I said.

But Weasley just shook his head when I said it.

"She said yes?" I asked him shocked.

"Don't be silly. She was walking by. You know I like it when they walk."

Harry nodded as if he completely understood but I just thought he sounded a bit like a pervert right now.

"And it just sort of slipped out." Weasley sighed.

"Actually you sort of screamed out. It was a bit frightening." The Weasley girl told him.

"What did you do then?" Harry asked.

"What else? I ran for it. I'm not cut out for this, Harry. Look what it's doing to me."

I felt kind of sorry for the boy and I don't even like him. Of course he never stood a chance with Fleur. Plus she has Veela blood and that always makes the guys act a little crazy around her.

When I turned back toward Harry, he was gone. I saw him talking to two girls a little further, twins. They were both blushing and nodding enthusiastically. What were they saying? So when Harry came back, I asked him exactly that.

"Looks like me and Ron both have a date after all." He smiled a little.

Good, I would have felt really bad for my brother if he didn't have a date. About the Weasley boy, I could have cared less. He was really lucky he had such a good friend like Harry, who arranged date for him.

So finally the Yule Ball was there. In less than two hours I was leaving for the Great Hall with Jonathan. Me, Noa and the other girls in my dorm were dressing up and doing our hair. You know, girly stuff. Me and Noa were sitting side by side, doing our make-up while looking in the mirror when she brought up a very unwanted subject.

"_Have you spoken to the Diggory guy since he gave you Frye?"_

I sighed. Ever since I had told her about my pet dragon, she was convinced something was going between me and Diggory. Every time she saw me speak to him in the hallway she always looked suspicious. And no matter how often I told her there was nothing going on, she just didn't want to believe it. I'm starting to think that maybe she doesn't like Jonathan being my boyfriend.

"_In the hallway sometime but of course you already knew that." _I told her a little annoyed by her persistence on this subject.

"_Did he ask you to the Ball?"_

"_No, of course not since he's probably going with a girl he likes!"_ I pointed out.

She didn't say anything else but there was clearly something she was dying to say. I'm just glad she shut up about it. We finished doing our make-up and hair before putting on our dressed and admired ourselves in the mirror. Noa's dress was green and fitted her thin figure very well. She had put her hair up in a fancy way. I had straightened my usually unruly hair with a spell and had put it half up, half down. If I may say so myself, we looked pretty good.

Noa's date was meeting her in front of the Great Hall and Jonathan would be waiting for me in our common room. She left before I did so I had already wished her good luck. She would need it since she's a little bit of a klutz and her dress is just the right length to accidentally step on it.

"_You look absolutely amazing."_ Jonathan smiled brightly at me once I met up with him in the common room.

He looked really good himself as well. I have to say I love a man in dress robes, more than in a uniform but maybe that's just because the Beauxbatons uniform isn't really all that manly. But my boyfriend can still pull it off.

When we finally arrived at the Great Hall, there were a lot of students gathering at the entrance, trying to find their date. I was looking out for Noa and her date but couldn't see them anywhere. Well, I'll see them eventually in the Great Hall which by the way looked breathtaking. Everything was decorated in white and blue and it really felt as if we were all in a snow castle. The magical ceiling was indeed snowing but luckily the snowflakes disappeared before they could touch anyone's dress or hair and ruin an outfit.

Jonathan steered me towards his friends who greeted us warmly. I like Jonathan's friends, they're always really friendly to me and pretty much everyone else. I had been talking to a guy named Nathan Limons with Jonathan's arm still wrapped securely around my waist, when the music started playing and the champions entered the Great Hall accompanied by their dates. Fleur was the first to come through the crowd people had formed around them with her date. I didn't recognise the boy but I remember her telling she was going with a student from Hogwarts. The date of the next champion I did recognise and I almost gaped at her. Why had Hermoine Granger not been willing to say who she was going with when her date was a catch like Viktor Krum? From the other side of the room I could see the gloomy look on Weasley's face. Ha, serves him right. He had still been convinced she had lied about having a date. Well, good for her I guess. She looked beautiful by the way, not at all like the annoying know-it-all I knew she was. The third couple to get on the dance floor was Diggory and his date. She was really beautiful and looked quite content at his side. A feeling he seemed to return. Could it be that he had gotten the girl he wanted to go with after all? I hope for him he has. Harry stuck out like a sore thumb, being much younger and looking more nervous than the other champions. And it only got worse when they all started dancing. While the three other couples were dancing gracefully and swirling around like it's what they do every day, Harry was practically stumbling on his date's toes and she was obviously not pleased by it.

"Oh Harry." I groaned while slapping a hand in front of my eyes to not witness his embarrassment anymore.

"_Are you as bad a dancer as your brother?"_ Jonathan grinned at me.

"_I don't even think anyone else is as bad a dancer as Harry right now but I can assure you that I definitely do not dance like that."_

Eventually people started joining them on the dance floor and Jonathan pulled me towards it as well. The more people there were on the dance floor, the less attention Harry's terrible footwork would get. Plus I really wanted to find out if my date was a good dancer or not. It turns out he wasn't that bad at it and I was really enjoying getting lifted up in the air by him. I couldn't stop smiling the entire time. This was a lot of fun. As much fun as it was, I was glad when the band had played the five mandatory classic waltz and we could get on to the good part. Rock music!

After dancing or pretty much just shaking my body in every possible way, I got a little tired out and told Jonathan I was going to get something to drink and he should just stay on the dance floor with his friends. While making my way to the table with the beverages, I saw Harry sitting at a table with his best friend and their dates, looking bored as hell. It wasn't my job to make sure he had a good time, mine only consisted of protecting him and tonight I didn't feel like getting sucked in the tragedy that is my brother's social life. If he wanted to have a good time, he could since he had his friends and a pretty girl by his side tonight but obviously he chose to have a miserable time instead. I was not getting involved.

"You look really beautiful tonight."

I turned around to see Diggory standing at the table as well. His compliment made me smile. He looked good as well, though still not as stunning as Jonathan but he definitely cleaned up nicely.

"You look rather dashing yourself as well." I grinned.

"Thanks. It seemed like you were enjoying yourself very well on the dance floor." He smiled.

"I was. Can't help it, I have a soft spot for the Weird Sisters. Don't you?"

"I'm more of a Classic music kind of guy." He grinned.

I really hope that was a joke but the smile on his face seems to imply that it is.

"Your date looks really great as well. Is she the girl you had wanted to go with or is she just the rebound?" I asked him while picking up my cup.

"Don't say something like that about Cho." He frowned. "But yes, she's not the girl I had wanted to ask in the first place."

Cho? Where had I heard that name before? Wait, wasn't that the name of the girl Harry had asked to be his date for the Yule ball? The girl who had turned him down because she already had a date?

"She doesn't happen to be in Ravenclaw by any chance?" I asked Diggory.

"Yes, she is. Do you know her?"

Nope, I most definitely didn't know her but I knew someone who did and who had really wanted to take this girl to the ball. Diggory didn't even like this girl the way my brother did. Why would she choose him over Harry? Maybe the fact that Harry was too slow to ask her in time had something to do with it. I sighed. Now I had to get involved.

I excused myself from Diggory and returned to the table Harry had been sitting at but now only contained Granger and Weasley glaring at each other. Oh boy, that looks cosy. I didn't particularly feel the need to throw myself between their glares but I'm sure they know where Harry is.

"Has anyone of you seen Harry?"

Granger and Weasley both snapped their heads up at me, looking as if they didn't want anything more than start yelling at me. I needed to get out of here fast.

"Why don't you ask Hermoine's friend, Krum!" Weasley spat out.

"You're the one making a bigger deal out of this than it is!" Granger yelled back.

"And you're the one stupid enough to think he only has friendship on his mind. For the brightest witch of our year you can act really stupid sometime."

I could tell by the look of hurt that crossed her face for a moment that he had really struck a nerve there. I so did not want to get involved in whatever spat those two had gotten into so I quickly left the table again. For the first time since meeting those two I wondered if maybe they had sort of romantic feelings towards each other. It would definitely explain why Weasley was so pissed at Granger for going to the Yule Ball with Krum and why she had been so angry when he had only asked her out because he couldn't get himself a date.

After looking around for Harry for another twenty minutes, I was thinking about heading back to Jonathan since he might wonder were I've been the entire time I was supposed to get myself something to drink. I decided to check outside again even though I'd be freezing. And that is exactly where I found Harry sitting on a bench, obviously sulking. I sat down next to him.

"What's on your mind?" I nudged him.

"Nothing. You look great by the way, Danny."

"Thank you. Although I'm afraid I can't return the compliment. The allure of dress robes seems to be completely wasted on you."

I'm completely for honesty since that's what I expect from others as well. Harry is one of the only people who doesn't easily take offense by it. This time as well he seemed to miss the possibility of feeling insulted.

"I'm afraid the entire concept of a ball is wasted on me." He sighed.

"Well, you got one part down. There are always people moping around because they couldn't come with the person they wanted to. You're not the only one." I told him while putting my arm on his shoulder and hugging him.

"You didn't go with who you wanted either?" He asked.

"No, I got exactly who I wanted." I smiled while not trying to rub it in his face.

"Then who were you talking about? Besides me, obviously."

"Diggory."

Harry seemed very interested all of the sudden in what I had to say but then again why wouldn't he? Everything that leaves my mouth is interesting. Right? But he reaction just convinced me that Diggory's date had been exactly the girl Harry had wanted to go to the ball with. I'm sure he would have been a more pleasant company to her than he was to his date tonight.

"He asked Cho because the girl he had wanted to take to the Yule Ball was already going with someone else."

"Sounds familiar." He mumbled.

"It's just one night, Harry. If you really like this Cho, you could always ask her out outside of the ball scene. To Hogsmeade or whatever it is Hogwarts students go to on a date. Like I said before, Diggory likes someone else so I don't think he's planning on asking Cho out on a date."

"Maybe you do have a point..."

"Don't I always?" I grinned.

He smiled back and pulled us both on our feet.

"Thank you, Danny."

"You're welcome. What else are sisters for than pepping up their sulking brothers?" I smiled at him while we walked back inside. Thank god, because I was freezing my ass off.

"I thought your job was to embarrass me in front of my friends?"

"Actually it's keeping you safe from all the danger you naturally attract but I'm pretty good at that too." I grinned.

"I'm really glad you're here this year." He said.

"Really?"

He nodded. He hadn't hidden the fact that he originally hadn't wanted me here but then again we both knew I hadn't really been dying to come either. So it meant a lot to hear him say those words, even if it was just because of his gloomy mood.

"Where have you been?" Granger suddenly came up in front of mine and Harry's face but she was obviously just talking to Harry since she has absolutely no authority or the audacity to ask me where I've been.

"Never mind. Off to bed, both of you!" She interrupted him before he even got the chance to open his mouth.

The both of you? For a moment I thought maybe she did think she could tell me what to do but then I saw Weasley standing in the hallway as well. It makes much more sense for him to be the second person.

"They get scarier when they get older." Weasley sneered at her when he and Harry walked up the stairs, off to bed probably like Granger had told them to.

If I was right about my assumptions that they liked each other, he sure as hell had a harsh way of showing it.

"Ron! You spoiled everything!" Granger screamed.

Harry and Weasley had already rounded the corner which meant me and Granger were left alone in the hallway. That is if you don't count the two girl comforting their sobbing friend on the stairs. I didn't. But Granger sat down and started doing something that looked a lot like sobbing to me as well. It made me feel really awkward to stand here.

"_What's wrong with her?" _Noa asked me after she said goodbye to her date in the hallway.

"_I think the guy she likes and might like her back was rude to her." _I explained to her.

"_Isn't she your brother's friend?"_

"_Yes, so?"_

"_Shouldn't you be comforting her then?"_

"_She's Harry's friend, not mine! I don't even like her." _I huffed.

"_Well, she obviously needs someone to comfort her." _Noa said.

"_You do it then."_

"_That might be a little hard since I don't speak English very well."_

"_I'll translate if you must but I'm so not comforting her."_

That seemed to piss Noa off a little and that's usually not such an easy thing to do. Nonetheless she sat down next to Granger and introduced herself. Noa is a much better person than I am. She didn't even know Granger and she was already throwing her arms around her.


	11. Christmas with Harry

_I want to thank __**Guest, mugglebornsrule, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, silverdragon2010 **__and __**Guest **__for reviewing the previous chapter. The reason I didn't update the previous weeks is because I was on vacation. I hope you're still following and liking my story. Danny might seem rather harsh towards Hermione and Ron, not because she really loathes them like she is making herself believe, but because she's actually jealous of their relationship with her brother._

Chapter 11

Because of the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball, no students were allowed to go home during the Christmas Holidays. My mother had already known that but she had still been very upset about it. It would be the first Christmas I wasn't spending with my family but it was also the first in three years that I would be spending with Harry and that I was excited about. The previous years there had always been something happening at this castle that made him want to stay.

I had decided me and Harry would spend Christmas together today and that meant I was spending every moment of this day by his side without any exception. So when I got up, I grabbed all the presents I had gotten and put them in a bag that was never full. In my pyjama I made me way over to the Gryffindor common room although I had put on robes in case I'd run into someone in the hallway. Not that I was embarrassed about my wonderful blue PJ but it might look a little weird to some of the professors.

"Banana Fritters." I said and the portrait swung open.

I'm so glad Fred and George had brought me here. Now I could always come and go here whenever I pleased and it was driving their prefect mad. Needless to say the twins were very pleased about that. I made my way up to the boy's dorm that had become way too familiar for me to be considered normal. All five boys seemed to still be sleeping and since I knew exactly which bed was Harry's, I launched myself on top of my brother, with quite some force I must admit.

"Ouch, what the hell!" Harry groaned loudly, waking up the other four boys.

"Merry Christmas, Harry!" I shouted in his face.

"What are you doing here, Danny?" He asked me while trying to roll over which he couldn't since I was lying on top of him.

"Exactly what it looks like: celebrating Christmas."

"Can't you do that in your own dorm?" Weasley asked me with a very annoyed look on his face.

"No, because there I can't celebrate it with Harry." I pouted.

"Did it have to be this early?" Harry grumbled.

"Yes, we used to get up early every Christmas, remember?"

He smiled fondly at the memory. Me and Harry loved Christmas and would always get up way too early and wake up our parents, to their annoyance. When we were younger it was cute they said, later on not so much.

"Fine." He sighed and sat up straight in his bed.

"Jesus Harry, why is your mattress so moist?" I asked him after sitting next to him. "Have you been sweating like a pig last night?"

Harry looked really uncomfortable which could only mean one thing.

"Ieuw, ieuw, ieuw! I didn't have to know about any gross dreams boys have. Ieuw!" I shrieked.

The other boys in the room started laughing and Harry started blushing like crazy. That is so nasty.

"No, it's not like that. I had a dream."

"Yeah, I figured that much." I said completely disgusted.

"I mean a nightmare."

"Oh."

Thank god! Or maybe not.

"The same dream as before?"

He nodded.

"You're still having that same dream? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's the first time I dreamt about it since we've been at Hogwarts."

Harry having this recurrent dream again worries me. Maybe he had been right when he thought it had meant something. It didn't necessarily mean it was something that had happened like Harry believed but maybe it was time to do some research on how exactly Bartomius Crouch Jr. died.

The rest of the morning me and Harry unpacked our presents. It was nice being with my brother like this again, unfortunately Weasley had to join. Apparently the two of them had a sort of tradition now as well to open their presents together. I didn't like it one bit and in the end I almost left feeling really pissed off. But I had sworn I'd spend the entire day with Harry and that's exactly what I will do.

We went to breakfast together, I sat at his table, we hung out at the common room together, we had lunch together, we played wizarding chess together. It could have been a great day, weren't it for the fact that his two stupid friends were there as well the entire day. Eventually I gave up on my idea of spending the whole day with Harry and made my way over to the library, alone. I intended to go there so that I could research this Bartemius Crouch Jr. but the truth is I also went there to sulk over my ruined Christmas. I wouldn't find any information on him in a book so I went to the section of old newspapers and boy, did I find something! These are the facts I know about him:

1. Bartemius Crouch Junior was a pure-bloodwizard and the son of Bartemius Crouch Sr. But of course I had already known this.

2. He joined Voldemort to become a Death Eater. Shocking, right? The man who sentenced so many to spend their entire lives in Azkaban had a son who committed the same crimes.

3. Crouch participated on the capture and torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom along with the Lestranges, using the Cruciatus Curse to drive them both into insanity. I'm glad the man died, he sounded awful.

4. Crouch was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban for his crimes by his own father. Ouch, even after the man had done such awful things it is always wrong for a father to betray his son like that.

5. He died in Azkaban one year after his imprisonment.

But none of this explained why Harry would be dreaming of this man though I was starting to see a connection between him and the other man in his dream, Peter Pettigrew. They were both death eaters and willing to betray everyone for that whether it was a father or their best friends. That still however didn't make sense as to why Harry would be dreaming about them. I didn't know how to make this go away and I felt really helpless trying to figure out the impossible. It got me so frustrated, I started banging my head against the table.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, you might cause some permanent damage." An amused voice said which belonged to Diggory.

"Maybe if I damage it hard enough, I'll get some sudden insight."

"That desperate?" He grinned.

"Not really. I just don't like feeling so useless."

"How could you possibly be useless?" He asked me, sincerely wondering.

"Not that hard. I manage to accomplish that on quite some occasions."

Like for example figuring out the egg. A few days ago I found out that Harry has no idea what to do with the golden egg he had taken from the dragon. The egg contained a clue that he would need for the next task and without it, he would be completely defenceless. I don't like for Harry to be defenceless but I've tried every possible spell on the egg and so far nothing. The second task was approaching fast and we needed a plan.

"What are you reading?" He asked me.

I quickly used a spell that made all the articles fly back to where they came from. I couldn't exactly tell Diggory why I had been doing some research on Bartemius Crouch Jr.

"Was that something I don't want to know or something I'm not allowed to know?" He asked me.

"Both actually."

He didn't seem to believe it and appeared to be trying to read me. As if looking at me would make him realise what I had been doing. Unless he's a Legilimens, that won't do him any good. I decided to change the subject so he'd stop looking at me like that.

"I have a question for you. Are you planning to ask Cho out on a date?"

He seemed taken aback by my direct and unexpected question but answered it anyway.

"I wasn't really thinking about it. Why?"

"No reason." I smiled.

I got up to tell Harry the news that Diggory had indeed no intention of taking Cho out and he really didn't seem to be thinking about her in that way. But before I could leave, Diggory grabbed my arm rather harshly and stopped me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, outraged he'd treat me so harshly.

"Why did you ask me that?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business!"

"Tell me why you asked me!"

I didn't like this demanding side of Diggory and telling him the reason I had asked him my question would only reward his behaviour. But on the other hand my arm was starting to hurt where he gripped it and I just wanted to be able to walk away.

"Fine, I just asked you because my brother has taken a liking to Cho and I wanted to make sure she wasn't already taken before encouraging him to make a move. Happy? Now let go of my arm." I hissed.

He let go of my arm so quickly, it almost seemed as if he had burned himself.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that." He shook his head.

He looked almost disappointed at himself, then again so was I.

"Maybe the tournament is messing with your head." I spat before storming out of the library.

Diggory just made it all the way back to the bottom of my list with people I'm willing to talk to.

On my way to the Great Hall for dinner, I ran into Harry suspiciously holding something behind his back.

"Danny, I was just looking for you."

"Why?"

My conversation or maybe even confrontation with Diggory had left me in a foul mood and seeing the reason my Christmas hadn't turned out the way I wanted it to didn't improve it. After all it was Harry's fault for befriending those two idiots that needed to spend every moment with him. Couldn't they find a brother themselves instead of hogging mine? If I remember correctly the Weasley even had 5 brothers.

"Because I just thought we could make a tribute to another one of our Christmas traditions." He smiled.

What was he talking about?

"A midnight flight." He grinned while pulling two brooms from behind his back.

That seemed really appealing especially now that I had some anger to get rid of. When we were younger my dad and uncle Sirius would take us with them on their brooms and we'd fly through Godric's Hallow. When we got older we flew by ourselves but we haven't done that in three years. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Harry fly a broom in over a year since we didn't do that this summer.

"How did you even get my broom?" I asked him while I took it from him.

"I asked your friend. The one I met at the goblet. She didn't really understand what I was trying to say because the first few times she came back with other stuff." He said.

I can already imagine how hard it must have been for him to make Helena understand what he wanted her to do. After taking my broom from Harry, I followed him outside. He was taking me to the Quidditch pitch, probably one of the only places I hadn't seen yet here who were actually worthwhile. My brother and I walked in silence because somehow it seemed more appropriate. Me and Harry both own a Firebold even though I've gotten mine only recently. Harry's nimbus 2000 broke after flying into the whomping willow last year so Sirius gave him a very early birthday present: a Firebold. That's why during the summer, at our birthday I had expected the same gift from uncle Sirius but instead he had given me a new cage for Puengi. I had been so pissed because I felt like he was favouring Harry, which he was. A few days later uncle Remus came to visit us and gave me the broom had been waiting for. That's exactly why I prefer him over uncle Sirius. That and the fact that when I had first announced to my family that I would be a Quidditch player, uncle Sirius had laughed and said that it was a sport meant to be played by men. I had never been angrier at him.

The Quidditch pit at Hogwarts wasn't all that different from the one at Beauxbatons except that they had placed towers around them for the spectators in the colours of the different houses. If you ask me they push people a little too hard in their stereotypes here. Me and Harry both got on our brooms and took off. When I had arrived to a pretty high point, it gave me a fantastic view on the castle and its surroundings. Hogwarts truly was magnificent.

"Hogwarts is beautiful, isn't it?" Harry asked me when he came flying next to me.

"Beauxbatons is beautiful too, you know."

"I haven't seen it yet. Maybe next year I'll come to your school." He smiled.

Next year. I didn't like thinking about that. After spending a few months at the same school with Harry, it felt weird to think of it differently next year. I'll go back to school in France and he'll stay here. We'll be apart again for ten months and we'll go back to writing letters to each other once a month. I sighed. I didn't want it to go back to the way things were.

We flew around for another half an hour until it was decided we better get back. It was starting to get really late and Harry needed his good night sleep to figure out the egg tomorrow. There were only ten days left till the next task.

"I did some research on Bartemius Crouch Jr." I told him once we started walking back to the castle.

"You did? Why?"

"Because you've been having the same dream about that man over and over again, I thought it might be useful to know who the man is." I told him.

"And what did you find out?"

"He was a Death Eater during the First Wizarding War."

"He was?" Harry asked me in surprise.

"From what I hear from your dream he doesn't seem like a nice man, does he?"

"Do you believe now that it's real?" He asked me.

"No, but there has to be some kind of meaning to it. Especially since you dream about two Death eaters ever since we saw some of them at the World Cup. That can't be a coincidence."

"What else did you find out?"

"He was sentenced to lifelong imprisonment by his own father."

"Senior?"

"Yep, according to a gossip story I found Crouch Jr. pleaded his father to not punish him, told him that he had just gotten in contact with the wrong people but his father had to make an example on how Death Eaters would be punished and his son took the blow."

"Being a Death Eater should always be punished, whether he's your son or not." Harry said but I could tell he too thought it to be a little cruel.

"Still, he was only nineteen years old. Maybe he really did meet the wrong people." I wondered out loud.

My father told me that after the First Wizarding War a lot of people claimed not to know what they were helping their 'friends' with, others said they felt like they didn't have other options while most people stuck with the story that they were under the imperio curse. Problem is: how do you know they're telling the truth? I had suggested veritaserum but apparently it's illegal to use those during questionings.

"Do you know how he died?" Harry asked me.

"Yeah, he got ill after being in Azkaban for a year and passed away shortly after."

"Why would I dream about him?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. "Do you know what the crime was that got him into Azkaban, besides being a Death Eater? Torturing the Longbottoms into madness."

"He used the Cruciatus curse on Neville's parents?" He gasped.

I nodded. I don't think that might have any reason to do with why Harry dreams about that man but it certainly made me pity him less. No child is supposed to grow up without parents and I can't help but shiver when I think about how close me and Harry came to that.

"Nevertheless, Crouch is not our biggest concern." I told Harry before we would part in the castle.

"Good evening." A voice came from behind us.

I was surprised to find Professor Moody standing there. The voice had sounded so creepy that I almost expected a Death Eater to be standing behind us.

"Aren't you supposed to be in your common room? It's curfew in ten minutes."

It is? Damn, there is no way I could get to my dorm in ten minutes. I was screwed. I expected Professor Moody to tell us to quickly make our way back but he just stood there, staring at Harry. Now I know that's something a lot of people do but there was just something creepy in his look. Maybe it is because he's seen so much evil in his life but then again so has my Dad and he definitely doesn't ever have a look like that on his face. It made me uncomfortable and it clearly had the same effect on my brother.

"Sir?"

My voice seemed to snap the professor out of his trance and he looked at me.

"Miss Potter, I had never heard about you before I came to Hogwarts."

The comment made me scowl. Was he implying that my father had never told him about me either because that's a big lie. I know that Moody knew who I was. Then why would he say such a thing? Or was it just his way of telling me that I'm insignificant?

"But you are important, very important. You share Harry Potter's blood."

Yeah, that's what related means. He gave us both one more look, said goodbye and disappeared in the many hallways.

"Was that weird to you too?" I asked Harry but he just shrugged. It didn't seem to bother him all that much.

"Anyway, I should get back to my dorm. I don't want to get detention."

"Wait, take this."

Why was Harry giving me the Marauders' Map?

"Don't you need it?"

"The Gryffindor tower is just up those stairs and I still have ten minutes." He shrugged.

"You don't happen to have the cloak with you as well?" I hoped. That way I could pull some mischief in this castle like I had always wanted.

"No. Goodnight Danny." He told me before heading up the stairs.

I watched Harry disappear as well and suddenly there was something very creepy about walking these hallways by myself. Good thing I had the Map, that way I could make sure I really was alone.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." I whispered while touching the map, that looked just like an ordinary parchment right now, with my wand.

The Map soon turned into well, the map and I could see all the dots gathering together in their dorms and common rooms though there were still quite a few dots and thus people wandering around in the castle, just like me. I would see names I'd recognise like Severus Snape and Rubeus Hagrid but most of the people I didn't know. Since I also didn't know which one of them were teachers I decided to stay away from every dot. I was getting quite close to my dorm when I saw a name that blew me off my feet. Bartemius Crouch Jr. For a moment I thought I had read it wrong and it said Sr. That would make more sense since he's been coming to Hogwarts often lately, not to mention that Crouch Jr. was dead and had been so for quite a long time. But when I looked back, it clearly stated that the name was Bartemius Crouch Jr., the Death Eater. How was that possible?

I ran all the way to my dorm and quickly grabbed a quill and parchment to write my brother what I had seen. I tried not to wake the other girls in my dorm but Puengi ruined that idea by screeching when I took her out of her cage.

"_What are you doing, Danny?"_Noa, the light sleeper, asked me.

"_Nothing, just fall back asleep."_

Another moment Noa might have insisted that I tell her what was going on but she was tired and quickly fell back asleep. Good, I have no idea how I would explain this to her. I just needed to tell Harry.

_Harry,_

_I just saw Bartmius Crouch Jr.'s name on the Map. I'm sure that it was Jr. so don't tell me otherwise. Is that possible?_

_Danny_

It took only a few minutes for Puengi to return, with a note from Harry. But she would only give it when I gave her something to eat. She was clearly in a terrible mood because I made her fly out at this moment.

_Danny,_

_That can't be. He is dead. Although I've had a similar situation when I saw Pettigrew's name on the Map last year next to mine, but I didn't see anything. Of course he had been a rat then but still. Could the Map be broken?_

_Harry_

The map wasn't broken, it worked better than anything else since it was able to recognise the rat as Peter Pettigrew in its animagus form. There was only one reasonable explanation as to why I saw Crouch's name on the map tonight. He was alive. And he was right here, at the castle. Close to Harry. Even though I hate to admit it, Harry might have been right to think it was an actual event he dreamed about. I'm starting to think his dream is a lot more than a simple nightmare.


	12. The Golden Egg

_Thank you __**Kaylzzie **__and __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx **__for reviewing chapter 11. I'm glad you like Danny. She might come across mean sometimes but she's got her heart in the right place. You'll see. _

Chapter 12

The next morning, when I walked into the Great Hall I immediately marched up to Harry.

"Beat it." I told the second year boys who had been surrounding Harry, trying to get an autograph. They didn't need to be here and I was glad to see them run off.

"You didn't have to be so rude." Granger sighed.

"I know what I saw Harry. What if he isn't dead?" I ignored the little witch.

"Danny." He sighed. "He died in Azkaban. It's not like it was some rumour, dementors saw him die."

"He could have faked it."

"Faked his death?" He asked me with a cocked eyebrow.

"Who are you talking about?" Granger tried to get in on the conversation but I purposely ignored it. At least Weasley kept his mouth shut, he was just looking at me and Harry back and forth as if he was watching a game.

"Maybe he used a spell of some sort that made his heart stop beating for a while and then he'd look dead. The dementors then took him out of his cell and buried him. The spell wore off and by then someone might have helped him out of his grave or something."

Harry didn't say anything, just gave me a look that clearly stated he didn't believe that story for a second.

"Well, maybe it didn't quite go like that but he must have found a way around it."

"Who are you talking about?" Granger tried again, with no result.

"He could also just be dead." Harry suggested.

"No, he isn't. Why else would you be dreaming about him, talking to Pettigrew. I think you were right and it was a true event."

"You believe me?" He asked me surprised.

"Who have you been dreaming about, Harry?" Granger asked but before he could answer her, I was already demanding all of his attention.

"I do though you have to admit it sounded unbelievable at first. But now it makes sense. If he is really here it must be because of you."

"Because of me?"

"Who do you think put your name in the goblet?"

"You think it was him?" Harry gasped.

"Who?" Granger butted in again.

"Who else? The person who made you compete in this tournament obviously doesn't have your best interest at heart and who better to fit the bill than a Death Eater?"

"It could be Karkarov. He used to be a Death Eater as well." Weasley said even though he had no idea what we had been talking about previously.

"You guys didn't know that?" He asked when he saw the surprised looks on our faces.

"And you didn't think this was something worth mentioning?" I hissed at him.

"I figured you knew. Everyone knows that." He shrugged.

"Why is he not in Azkaban?" Harry asked him.

"He was supposedly under the influence of the Imperio curse and they let him off the hook after giving up names of other Death Eaters."

Karkarov was a Death Eater? It would explain why he stared at Harry in such a weird way. Somehow that made me doubt the statement that he had been under the imperio curse. I think Karkarov has enough evil in him to join the Death Eaters without being obligated.

"Will someone please explain who you're talking about?" Granger got angry.

"Bartomius Crouch Jr." Harry told her.

"Who?"

"A Death Eater who was sent to Azkaban after the First Wizarding War and died there. But last night Danny saw his name appear on the Marauders' Map." Harry explained to his friends.

"You mean his corpse is here at Hogwarts?" Weasley shivered.

"Of course not, you idiot. Corpses don't move and the dot definitely moved." I snapped.

"But Harry just said he was dead?" Weasley got confused.

But honestly, that's where I get confused as well. If he really was dead, I shouldn't have been able to see his name next to a moving dot in the castle. But I did see it which means he must be alive. But how is that even possible?

"So what does this mean?" Granger asked.

"I don't know." Harry sighed.

Now he had something extra to worry about, besides the life-threatening tournament he was competing in. I couldn't let him lose his focus. He needed all his attention fixated on figuring out the egg.

"I'll figure it out." I told him but they all looked at me as if there was no way in hell I could.

"How?"

"I don't know yet but I will. In the mean time you have to figure out the egg for the next task. You don't have much time left." I told Harry.

"You still haven't figured it out?" Granger asked him outraged.

"I'm working on it." He mumbled.

He better start working his ass off because if he doesn't find the clue, he'll be doomed in the next task. And I will not give that satisfaction to the one who put his name in the goblet. I said goodbye to them and left once again for the library. Finding things about how Crouch could be alive and in Hogwarts is a much more difficult subject to do research on than dragons and the Triwizard Tournament. For the next few days I spend all my time in the library and especially not with Harry. I was afraid to hear he still hadn't figured out the egg and the task was in three days. I was ready to give up for today when an owl flew on my desk.

"What is that owl doing in my library!" The woman from the library shrieked before kicking me and the owl out of her precious room.

I didn't recognise the beautiful creature but it was clear the letter was meant for me since the owl kept following me around. I took the note and opened it.

_Meet me at the Prefect's bathroom at 6._

That's all it said. I didn't know the handwriting so I also had no clue on who might have written it. I didn't know why I should go there and I didn't even know where the prefect's bathroom was. Should I go? It all seemed a little suspicious to me but I was curious and maybe it had something to do with Bartemius Crouch Jr. Whatever it was, it was worth it to go and find out.

I had asked the few people I had met at Hogwarts about the whereabouts of the prefect's bathroom but none of them knew. Then again I had befriended people like the Weasley twins, who weren't prefects and also didn't know where the bathroom was. Eventually help came out of an unexpected source when Cyril, the Gryffindor prefect told me where it was. However he was unwilling to tell me the password I would need to get in. I sure hope the person who sent me the letter knows it because else I've went through all that trouble for nothing. So as the person in the letter had asked me, I stood next to the statue of Boris the Bewildered on the 5th floor. I sure hope Cyril wasn't playing me for a fool when he told me this.

"I didn't think you'd show." Diggory told me when he arrived.

"I wouldn't have, had I known the letter was from you!" I spat while already making my way out of there.

"Wait, Potter! I wanted to apologise for the way I acted last time we talked." He sighed.

"And you couldn't have done that anywhere else but here?"

"Sure, I could have apologised to you the first time I saw you in the hallway again but I've also figured out something that will make you forgive me." He smiled.

"Which is?"

He had made me curious. What was the real reason I had to come all the way out here?

"If you would be so kind to follow me. Pine Fresh." He said.

People have got to stop saying passwords out of the blue. It makes them all sound like nut jobs. The door next to the statue opened and Diggory stepped in. I shrugged and followed. What could be the harm in listening to what he had to say anyway?

The bathroom was huge. On one side of the room there were many toilet stalls but what was opposite of those is what drew my attention. There was a large bath, though I think it looked more like a swimming pool than what the average wizard has in his bathroom. There were so many tabs, I wouldn't even know how to draw a bath in here. Diggory however did because he used some spell that made the tabs spill water in the tub along with bubbles. I was going to ask him why he had brought me here when I turned to him and noticed him taking off his clothes.

"What the hell are you doing!" I yelled out in surprise.

When he had asked me to come here, did he have some kind of a nudist party in mind? Because there is no way I'm doing that.

"Why are you taking of your clothes?"

"It's not very handy to get in a bath with your clothes on."

"I didn't come here to watch you take a bath!" I told him while turning around.

He had just taken of his shirt and was naked from the waste up. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by how fit his body is but that is what Quidditch can do to you. It did however make me blush and that I didn't like. It made me feel like a silly little school girl which maybe I am.

"You don't have to watch. You have to join me." He said simply.

"There is no way I'm getting naked in front of you!" I turned around and yelled at him.

"Who said anything about being naked? You can take a bath in your underwear." He shrugged.

Only then did I notice he wasn't completely naked. He was still wearing his underwear but it was a lot more nakedness than I'm used to. I didn't want Diggory to see me in my underwear any less than I wanted him to see me naked. I also wasn't seeing the point of this all.

"Why are we taking a bath together anyway?"

It sounded like something very intimate, something I didn't really want to do with the guy who gets under my skin in the most annoying ways.

"It'll be worth it." He said.

"But you won't tell me why?"

"You'll see."

Why was he so reluctant on telling me the reason? It made me think there wasn't one and he somehow found pleasure in making me feel so uncomfortable. Or maybe he was afraid to take a bath by himself, in fear of drowning in that pool/bath.

"Well? Are you coming or do you need some help undressing?" He grinned.

My embarrassment was way too amusing to him. But I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of walking away. I started undressing when he was already getting into the bath tub. I must admit it made me very much aware of my body now that I was practically undressing in front of him but he at least had the courtesy of pretending there was something more interesting to look at on his other side. He only looked back at me when I had slid into the water and my body was covered by all the bubbles.

"Do you accept my apology?" He asked.

"We needed to get in the bath tub, in our underwear, just so you could ask me if I've forgiven you?" I asked him outraged.

"No, we got into the bath tub because there's something I need to show you."

"Is it your body?" I asked, fearing the answer.

He just laughed and I couldn't fight the little smile creeping up my face.

"No, though you are free to look." He grinned and his grin only grew when I started blushing again.

"If you're going to keep acting like that, I'm leaving."

"Okay, I'll stop teasing you. The reason I brought you here is because I needed some help with my golden egg."

What? He expected me to help him solve the clue of his egg when I can't even help Harry! And why on earth would I help him anyway? Hadn't I made it very clear during the First Task that it was every champion for himself and I was obviously on Harry's side, not his. He seemed to notice my look of outrage because he quickly continued.

"I've figured out the clue in the egg, I just don't get what it means yet and if you help me, I'll tell you what the clue is and that way you can help Harry. Indirectly I will thank Harry this way for him giving me heads up on the dragons." He finished.

It was a tempting offer. Harry had absolutely no idea what to do with the egg and the Second Task was in a few days. But was it really a good idea to trust Diggory? He was after all Harry's competition.

"How do I know you won't give me false information?" I asked him suspiciously.

"You'll see that there is no way to trick you."

I wanted to believe him, I did. So I took a leap of faith and trusted him.

"And how do I know you won't just run off once I show you the clue, without helping me?" He asked.

"You have my word and I never ever break it."

The answer seemed to be good enough for him because he pulled his egg out of his bag that was lying on the floor. I hadn't even seen him bring the egg.

"You're not going to open it, are you?"

I remembered how it had burned my ears the first time Harry had opened the egg, proving me that it was not a good idea.

"I am. Under water."

Huh? I couldn't ask what he meant because he was already lowering the egg into the water. Once it was completely submerged, he opened the lid on top. Instead of the painful shrieks I had expected, I heard nothing. Although nothing might not be it, I heard some noise coming from the water but I almost couldn't hear it.

"See, the trick is to listen to the egg when it's under water. Else it just makes a terrible noise but I guess you already knew that." He explained.

"But now I just don't hear anything."

"That's because you're not under water." He told me before breathing in air and getting under water.

Was I supposed to do the same? I didn't really feel the need to get my hair wet. Diggory started pulling my leg so eventually I just took a deep breath and went under. I kept my eyes open and I could see Diggory doing the same. I noticed he was looking at me but all my attention went to the glowing light coming from the egg. And the voices, beautiful voices filling my ears.

_Come seek where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground._

_And while you're searching ponder this,_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss._

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took._

_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

_Too late it's gone, it won't come back._

The beautiful song started repeating afterwards and I went back up to catch some air. Diggory soon followed.

"So the song is the clue?" I asked.

"Yes, I just don't know what it all means." He sighed.

"They said something about an hour." I was thinking out loud.

"An hour long you'll have to look, and to recover what we took." He said.

I looked at him surprised he could repeat the exact words from the song.

"I've listened to it so many times now, I know it by heart." He shrugged.

It must have really frustrated him to listen to it time and time again and not figuring out what it meant. Was I supposed to realise what it says in an hour time?

"You'll have to look? Maybe for this task you also have to search for something like the egg during the first task."

"I thought about that as well but it isn't really a clue as to what the next task is. I can't imagine me just playing hide and seek."

I snorted. Now I would totally be in favour for that task, sounds a lot less dangerous than the first one was.

"I'm serious. I need to know what the task will be or I can't be prepared." He sighed.

I suddenly remembered the reason he had entered the tournament in the first place. He wanted people to realise that Hufflepuffs could also be brave and smart, not just loyal and hardworking.

"Okay, let's think. They said they took something that you'll sorely miss. What could that be?"

"I'm not missing anything." He shrugged.

"Maybe not yet. I sure would keep a good eye on my broom though." I smiled and he did the same. "But they also said you need to recover what they took. So it's not something like an egg. It's something with great value to you."

"But that still doesn't explain where I should go find the stupid thing. I only have an hour." He was starting to get annoyed, I could tell.

"Come seek where our voices sound. We need to know who's singing that to know where the next task will take place."

"They aren't really throwing around with clues on that." Diggory said.

"But they can't sing above the ground. What are they, corpses or something?"

But Diggory wasn't listening to me anymore. He was staring at the mermaid in one of the glass paintings. The girl was combing her hair and smiling. Seriously? He got distracted by that?

"They're merpeople." He gasped.

"What?"

"That's why they can't sing above the ground, they live under water. And it's also the reason we only hear the song when the egg is under water. The Second Task is under water!"

"Are there merpeople in the Black Lake?" I asked him.

"Yes. I mean there must be." He sounded really happy now and so was I after figuring out the egg.

"So you need to find a way to stay under water for an hour, to retrieve the thing you'll miss." I smiled.

"Thank you, Danny." Diggory said and he hugged me.

He called me by my first name! After I told him not to. And he just hugged me! He was still hugging me and it wasn't even all that awkward until I realised we were both only wearing our underwear. I gently pushed him back.

"Well, it's still Potter to you."

"Seriously? Still? Don't you think we're over that? You can call me Cedric now."

Call him Cedric? That would sound way too weird coming from my lips.

"But that's strange." I whispered.

"Why? Because it makes us sound like we're friends? Aren't we?"

Were we friends? I don't know. I argue a lot with him and sometimes he's so cocky I feel like smacking him but I did like hanging out with him and most of the time he's the one being friendly to me while I call him a jerk. He was a better friend to me than I was to him.

"Friends?" I asked.

He nodded.

"I guess we could give it a try, see what happens."

He smiled at me rather warmly and I think I made a good decision, trying to be his friend.

"But I'll still yell at you when you piss me off." I said.

"Of course." He nodded with the smile still on his face.

"So how come you knew to hold the egg under water in the first place?" I changed the subject.

"Someone told me."

"Who?"

"I promised not to tell anyone. Sorry."

That was okay. I wasn't really all that curious about it in the first place except that he told me he couldn't tell anyone and that did make me want to know it. But to preserve our new friendship, I decided to drop it.

"Maybe it's time we got out of the bath tub." I suggested.

"Yes, maybe."

However he didn't make a move to get out and somehow that meant I couldn't get out. Because then he'd see me clearly in my underwear even though he could already do so since all the bubbles had disappeared after a while. I decided to just get up anyway. I got out of the bath tub, dried myself off with one of the many towels in this room and started putting my clothes back on. I could hear Diggory or I guess Cedric now, getting out as well. When I was finally dressed, I turned towards Cedric.

"Thank you for helping Harry." I told him while trying not to look too much at his bare chest.

"You're welcome and thank you for doing this with me." He smiled.

I smiled back and turned around to leave. Unfortunately in the hallway I bumped into Jonathan and he took in my wet appearance with a frown.

"_How come you're wet?" _He asked me.

I didn't think it was a good idea to tell him I had just spend the past hour in a bath tub with Cedric Diggory with nothing but my underwear on. I haven't forgotten how he was a little jealous of Cedric in the first place. Even though there was no reason for him to be jealous, I don't like picking fights with the people I actually care about.

"_A spell gone wrong."_

He seemed to believe me and let it drop.

"_Apparently the only all-wizard town in England is nearby and next weekend there's a trip to it. If we get parental authorisation by owl, we can go. According to some people it's a very good place to go on a date." _He smiled.

"_Are you asking me out on a date?" _I grinned.

"_Yes."_

"_I would love to."_ I told him before pressing my lips against his.

He's a very good kisser and I love making out with him which I think is something we should do right about now. I dragged him by his tie to the nearby broom cupboard and spend the next hour tasting those lips again and again.

Since I had just spend an entire hour lip locking with my boyfriend (still so weird to call him that), it was now too late to tell Harry about the egg. I'll tell him tomorrow and he'll still have two days to figure out a way to breathe under water for an hour. How hard could that be?

The next day I finally found Harry talking to the Granger girl after looking for him all through the castle. I quickly approached them and it might be considered rude but I cut short their conversation.

"Have you figured out the egg?"

"No, I haven't." He sighed.

"Harry! The task is in two days!" Granger freaked out again.

"Don't worry, Harry. I've got it covered." I grinned before dragging him along with me, leaving Granger on her own.

I dragged him all the way to the fifth floor and said the password that would reveal the awesome bathroom.

"Where are we?" He asked me while looking around, slightly impressed by the room.

"Prefects' bathroom." I shrugged as if it was okay for us to be here.

"What are we doing here?"

"I'm going to show you the clue in the egg." I told him while showing him his golden egg I had taken from his dorm this morning. "Now, take of your clothes."

"What?"

"Just kidding. But you might want to take of your robe and shirt. You're going to get a little wet." I smiled.

I figured there was no need to sit once again in the bath tub in my underwear. We could just as well dip our head into the water while standing next to the bath tub instead of in it. We will get a little wet but that way no one has to get practically naked. After pushing Harry, he eventually took off his shirt though reluctantly. I don't know why, I am his sister after all. I did the same but kept my top underneath on. I might be his sister but I'm sure he doesn't want to see me in my bra.

I lowered the egg in the filled bath tub and opened it. Once again the expected shriek didn't come and Harry looked surprised.

"You can only hear what they're saying when you open it under water."

But before I could tell him to submerge his head in the water as well, a voice interrupted us.

"Hello Harry. Long time no see." She giggled.

The voice came from a girl coming out of one of the toilets, well I guess girl isn't the right word since she was obviously a ghost. She looked a little geeky with her glasses and the ponytails.

"Myrtle!" Harry called her.

Moaning Myrtle? The ghost who haunts the toilets in this school? Lovely, just what we needed: an emotional teenager from fifty years ago who can't get over the fact that she's dead. I rolled my eyes but she didn't seem the notice, she kept cooing at Harry. Does this ghost have a crush on my brother?

"I was circling a blocked drain the other day, I could swear I saw a bit of Polyjuice potion. Not being a bad boy again, are you, Harry?" She giggled while trying to comb her hair as seductive and elegant as one of the mermaids in the portraits.

Oh, she is most definitely crushing on my brother.

"Polyjuice potion? Quit the habit."

Harry was way too polite to tell the ghost to beat it and she was obviously making him nervous.

"You have to keep your head under water if you want to hear what the voices in the egg say."

The ghost didn't seem too pleased that I had interfered her little one sided flirt with Harry but at least he had his attention back on the egg.

"That's what he did, the other boy." She cooed at him.

The other boy? Was she talking about Cedric? Had she been spying on him in the bath tub as well? She was one perverted little ghost.

"The handsome one. Cedric." She smiled while approaching Harry who was suddenly very much aware of the fact that he was shirtless.

"Well go on, listen to it." She said.

Should I be more insulted of the fact that she ignored my presence or that he actually did as she told him to and completely ignored me when I told him the same thing? He lowered his head into the water and I quickly did the same. It couldn't hurt to hear the song again.

_Come seek where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground._

_And while you're searching ponder this,_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss._

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took._

_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

_Too late it's gone, it won't come back._

I could understand how Cedric already knew the song by heart. It was rather catchy.

When Harry got up again, he started coughing up water and Myrtle mimicked him. As if she could actually be out of breath.

"There are merpeople in the Black lake, aren't there?" He asked both me and Myrtle.

"Very good. It took Cedric ages to figure it out. Almost all the bubbles were gone."

I didn't like the way she was rubbing up against my brother now and I also didn't like the fact she had been spying on me and Cedric. She definitely had because whenever she mentioned his name, she would glance at me. She was giggling and resting her head on Harry's shoulder now. Even though I didn't like the ghost it was very entertaining to see Harry squirm under her attention. It took us ages to finally get out of the bath room.

"It seems like you've got yourself an admirer." I grinned.

"Very funny, Danny. How did you know anyway that you needed to hold the egg under water?"

"Cedric told me." I sighed, knowing he would draw the wrong conclusions just like Noa.

"Why?"

"Well, you helped him with the dragons and he wanted to help you in return so he told me about the egg. He knew that I would tell you."

"But why would he tell you, he could have just told me then." He frowned.

"I don't know, okay? The most important thing right now is to find a way to breathe under water for one hour."

I thought finding such a way would be the easy part and it might have been, if we didn't have to find one in two days. The next task was approaching and fast.

_What did you think about it? Did you like Danny's interaction with Cedric?_


	13. The Second Task

_Thanks you __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, Kiseki, Kaylzzie **__and __**feliciiaab**__ for reviewing chapter 12. You can go ahead and babble away. My ears won't fall off. It's a compliment to me because it just means you really like the story. _

Chapter 13

We had spend the next days in the library looking for something that could make Harry breathe under water for an hour and so far we hadn't come up with anything. We were all flipping through the pages of every book in this library; me, Harry, Granger and Weasley. Yes, apparently the guy does know what a book looks like. That revelation took me completely by surprise.

"Harry, tell me again." Granger asked.

Oh, please no! She has asked Harry practically every hour now to repeat the song. At first I had thought the song was beautiful but after hearing Harry repeat it over and over and over again, I've really developed some kind of hatred towards it.

"Come seek where our voices sound." He sighed.

"The Black lake, that's obvious." She said, once again.

"An hour long you'll have to look."

"Again, obvious though potentially problematic." She sighed.

"Potentially problematic?!" I interfered.

"When is the last time you held your breath under water for an hour, Hermoine?" Harry continued.

"Look Harry, we can do this. The three of us can figure this out."

Was I air or something? Because I'm sure there are four of us even though the snoring Weasley hasn't been a great help tonight.

"I'd hate to break up the scull session. Professor McGonagall would like to see you three in her office, Weasley, Granger and Potter."

What had he done now? Harry was already getting up from his seat on the table when Professor Moody stopped him.

"Not you." He told Harry before looking at me.

What could Professor McGonagall possibly want with me? I didn't do anything wrong and even if I did, she didn't have the authority to punish me since I am not a student attending Hogwarts. But I did as was asked and left the library with Weasley and Granger. I just hope this won't take too long and we'll be back in time to help Harry figure out how to breathe under water for an hour.

"Ah, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger and Miss Potter." McGonagall greeted us. "Thank you professor Moody."

She was sitting behind her desk and there were three vials placed on top of it. Why do I have the feeling something is going to happen that I don't like?

"If you would be so kind to drink the vial with your name on." She told us.

There is no way I'm drinking any suspicious liquid before I know for sure what it is.

"What's in it?" I asked her, not even picking it up.

"That is none of your concern. Now please, drink it."

"You want me to drink a potion with an unknown effect and you say it is none of my business?!"

McGonagall might not be a big fan of me, judging by the look on her face. She looks pretty annoyed that I won't simply drink it.

"_Just drink it Miss Potter." _My Headmistress interfered.

I hadn't even heard her enter the office but if she thinks I should drink it, it won't do much harm. She wouldn't let anything happen to one of her students even if that student is me. So eventually I reluctantly picked up the vial, as did Weasley and Granger, and downed the potion. Just like every other potion it wasn't a pleasant taste but it wasn't as disgusting as I knew some other potions were. As soon as I drank it all, I felt tired. Suddenly my limbs all felt so heavy and it was impossible to keep them straight. I thought I'd collapse to the ground but I wouldn't know. It felt as if I was falling asleep.

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When you sleep, you wake up slowly. It's an almost pleasant sensation, awakening, coming back to the land of the living. There was nothing pleasant about the way I just woke up. I hadn't even realised I had fallen asleep or been unconscious when suddenly my lungs filled themselves with fresh air that almost burned my windpipe. I coughed and coughed till all the water was out of my lungs. How had there even been water there?

Only then could I fully see what was happening around me. I was in the Black Lake and right in front of me stood three large tribunes, I guess you could call it, with so many people on it cheering. What were they cheering for?! I could feel someone take my hand and pull me towards the middle tribune. I followed swimming because I was hoping someone else might know better what was going on than me. When we both made it to the middle tribune, I noticed, the guy swimming in front of me wore a swimming outfit while I was still in my school's uniform. The guy in front of me had a big number on his back and the name 'Diggory'. Diggory? What was Cedric doing in the water here? Actually, him being here made more sense than me. He was obviously competing in the second task but why was I here?

Oh God, the second task! Had it already begun? Where was Harry?! I wanted to ask Cedric but before I could I was being pulled out of the water by people on the platform. I was quickly wrapped up in a warm blanket and only then did I realise I had actually been shivering from the cold.

"Are you okay?"

Cedric stood in front of me, dripping just as much as me and wrapped in a blanket as well. I was a little confused as to why I had suddenly gained consciousness in the Black Lake next to Cedric Diggory. I nodded and he seemed relieved that I was okay. I was just fine but what about my brother?

"What just happened?" I asked him confused.

"The second task." He smiled but he seemed a bit nervous.

"But what am I doing in it?"

"Do you remember the song?" he asked.

I nodded. Of course I remembered it. For the past few days it has been the only thing on my mind. Granger kept asking Harry to repeat it.

"In the song, they said something about us having to find something they had taken from us."

I nodded again and he continued.

"Well, it wasn't a broom or something. It was you and three other people." He told me while rubbing the back of his neck.

"They... took... people?" I asked him shocked.

How dangerous is that? Doesn't it mean that this whole time I've been 'unconscious', I was lying on the bottom of the Black Lake?

"Yeah..."

"That's so irresponsible. What if something had happened to me or those other people? We didn't sign up for the competition, but it is okay to put us in danger like that?!" I would have shouted had I not started coughing again.

Cedric was immediately by my side and tapped my back.

"Thanks." I said once I had coughed it all out. "Where are the other champions?" I asked him, looking for my brother on the other platforms.

"They're still underwater."

"What?!"

I glanced up at the huge clock above me. One hour had already passed. I even think Cedric might have been later than the assigned time limit.

"Fleur isn't, she had to forfeit due to some water creatures attacking her."

Yeah, it's really sounding like a safe place right now. What a great idea to put a few unconscious students in that water! This idea had Dumbledore's madness written all over it.

"Krum and Harry are still down there. But don't worry about him. I saw him and he was doing just fine." He told me once he saw my worried look but that would only go away if I could see with my own two eyes that Harry really was okay.

Finally the people started shouting again because another champion had reached the water surface. I quickly ran to the border but it wasn't Harry. It was Krum and he had Granger with him. Does that mean he likes her, in the romantic way I mean? How were the people even chosen? Why was I the person assigned to Cedric? I wanted to ask him that but I was afraid of what his answer might be.

"Where's Harry?"

The other champions were all here now but there was still no sign of Harry.

"I don't know. He had been right behind me." Cedric told me and that definitely didn't make me feel better.

We waited for another ten minutes and I went almost crazy with worry. Harry competing in this tournament wasn't good for his health but it wasn't good for mine either. I'm sure I'll have a heart attack before the end of the year. Suddenly two figures came out of the water. I felt so relieved but it was short lived when I quickly realised none of the two figures was Harry. It was the Weasley guy and Gabrielle Delacour, Fleur's sister. Fleur immediately rushed to the edge and reached out her hand to her sister.

"_Come, Gabrielle. It's okay."_

How come Gabrielle was suddenly here? Fleur never made it to the bottom so her sister should have stayed right there. The Weasley guy must have been the person Harry was meant to save but then where was Harry? If something happened to him I will never forgive myself for drinking that potion last night.

"I'm sure he's fine." Cedric tried.

"You don't know that."

The fact that he kept his mouth shut after that, made it clear he really didn't know where the hell my brother was and that he wasn't so sure anymore that he was really fine. Suddenly a figure jumped out of the water and landed on the platform. Now that figure was Harry. I quickly made my way through the people surrounding him and knelt beside him, quickly throwing my blanket over his shoulders. Before I could say anything to him, Fleur knelt next to me.

"You saved her, even though she wasn't yours to save. My little sister. Thank you!" Fleur declared in her French accent before kissing him all over his face in gratitude.

"And you, you helped." She said to Weasley who stared at her, as usually, like an idiot.

"Well, yeah a bit." He said but I'm absolutely convinced he had nothing to do with it, after all he had been unconscious like the others until he came to the surface.

Fleur laughed and kissed both of his cheeks before leaving with Gabrielle again.

"Merci." Wealsey sighed with the ridiculous goofy smile on his face as if he had just won the lottery.

But even when Fleur and Gabrielle left, I still didn't get the chance to talk to him since Granger flew past me and straight to Harry.

"Harry! Are you alright? Oh God, you're freezing!" She almost deafened him while throwing yet another blanket around him.

"Personally, I think you did admirably." She told him.

"I finished last, Hermoine."

"Next to last. Fleur never made it past the grindylows." She smiled.

People were still so busy cheering around us, I would never get the chance to talk to my brother and honestly, he didn't seem that desperate to talk to me. He wasn't even looking at me. Did he even know I was standing right here or what I had been through this past half hour?

Dumbledore stepped forward out of the mass of cheering students and silenced everyone.

"Attention!" His magically enhanced voice yelled out. "The winner is Mr. Diggory!"

People stared cheering and clapping. I couldn't help but do the same. After all he had won first place and I'd rather see him win this thing than Viktor Krum. Then there's also the fact I would still be at the bottom of the Black Lake if it wasn't for him. He looked really happy right now and it was the first time that I actually believed he wanted to compete in this tournament.

"However, seeing as Mr Potter would have ended first had it not been for his determination to rescue not only Mr Weasley but the others as well, we've agreed to award him second place."

What? That's great! I cheered louder this time and together with all the Gryffindors. Harry looked stunned but then again who saw that coming since he did come in last. Karkarov however didn't look very pleased by it, probably because everyone had just assumed Krum would be second place.

"For outstanding moral fibre."

That sounds about right.

We all had to get in some boats to get back to the main land and to Hogwarts. I shared the boat with Harry, Granger, Weasley, Fred and George. There was this buzz in the air of excitement. Nobody had ever thought Harry would do so well in this tournament and now that he has, everyone seemed to be high on relief and happiness. But for some reason I couldn't really share in the excitement. Something was bothering me and I felt I couldn't really talk about it with Harry.

When we got out of the boats Mr Bartomius Crouch Sr. was standing right in front of us, as if he had been waiting for us, for Harry.

"Congratulations Potter." He said to Harry. 'Fine achievement. Well done, boy."

It seemed like he wanted to have a private conversation with my brother and that doesn't include me. I left the both of them like the others did but I walked a little slower so eventually I ended up walking back to Hogwarts by myself. I didn't mind because I still had one question on my mind that I was dying to have answered. Why wasn't I the person Harry was supposed to save? The song said that they had taken something they would sorely miss. That implied they took someone important to the champions. Wasn't I important to Harry? Wasn't I the most important one to Harry? Had it been me competing in the tournament, it wouldn't have been Noa I'd have to save. I love my best friend to pieces but my brother, my twin brother, will always be more important. He will always be the most important one to me but apparently he didn't feel the same way about me.

And then there was also the fact I had been the one Cedric Diggory had to save. We had agreed to call our relationship the one of friends but that had only been a couple of days ago. He had been going to school with all his other friends for the past six years so why had it been decided I should be dropped at the bottom of the lake? It didn't make any sense. Maybe there had been some kind of mix-up and the champions didn't have to save the person they cared about the most. And maybe I should try to figure out how the people were chosen instead of making crazy assumptions. The only person who could answer that question would be Dumbledore so that is exactly whose office I'll be going to right now.

Unfortunately when I got to his office –which is kind of hard to find and most paintings aren't that helpful- the gargoyle in front of it happily announced to me that professor Dumbledore wasn't available right now. I could wait for my answer I guess. I could always just come back tomorrow.

On my way to the Great Hall, I ran into Cedric. He looked dry now and very pleased with his victory but who wouldn't?

"Hey Danny." He smiled at me and stopped right in front of me.

"Hi." I smiled back. "Congratulations on getting first place in the second task."

"Thanks but I can't take all the credit. You made a very good unconscious victim." He joked.

"Very funny." I smiled.

"Is your brother okay?" He asked me.

It was nice of him to think of Harry or maybe he just felt a little guilty because I had been stuck in the Black Lake thanks to him but I'm not mad or anything. It's not his fault the three headmasters thought that would make an awesome second task.

"He's fine, I think. I haven't really gotten the chance yet to talk to him." I shrugged.

"And are you okay? Since you were also in the second task."

"Yeah, I didn't have to fight merpeople, just pretty much be unconscious. I'm pretty good at that or so I'm told."

He laughed. I thought maybe he would know a little more about how the champions were chosen. At least he'd know why I was the one he had to save, right?

"Can I ask you something, Cedric?"

"Of course." He smiled.

"Why did you save me? I mean, why was I on the bottom of the lake as the person you were meant to save?"

"I don't know, Danny. But we're friends, right? Your brother had to save his friend as well." He sighed.

"So you don't know how that was decided either?"

"No, I don't."

"I guess it's not really that important." Although I think it is and I'll get to the bottom of this.

I said goodbye to Cedric and sat down next to Noa at the table.

"_You were with Cedric Diggory again?"_

"_Again? You're making it sound as if I spend all my time with him."_

"_It certainly seems that way." _She grumbled.

Why was Noa acting like this? It's very unlike her to be cranky, let alone to me.

"_Now what is that supposed to mean?"_

"_Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. I've told you before that that boy has a crush on you and that is still the case."_

"_Are you still going on about that? I've told you, me and Cedric are just friends."_

"_Really? Because you used to call him Diggory."_

She changed the subject when Jonathan and some of his friends joined us. He seemed rather cranky as well and refused to look me in the eye during dinner. There must be something in the air that makes people so moody.

It wasn't until we were all lying in bed, when Noa brought it back up. Well, actually I started the conversation but I had not wanted to talk about Cedric Diggory anymore. I had waited until the other girls were asleep before I got out of bed again and sat down on Noa's.

"_Are you asleep?" _I whispered.

"_Not yet." _She whispered back.

"_Do you know why Jonathan didn't talk to me all night?"_

Noa and Jonathan had become good friends once he and I started going out. Sometimes it even seemed she spend more time with him than I did. I was rather busy with preventing my brother being killed.

"_Are you blind, Danny?" _She sighed. _"He's obviously jealous."_

"_Of what?"_

"_Of who would be more correct. He's not as daft as you. He's noticed the way Cedric Diggory looks at you."_

"_Why do you keep saying that?! I've already told you several times that's not the way things are between us. I'm dating Jonathan. If I wanted to be with Cedric, I'd be with him."_

"_I'm not saying you're in love with him but it definitely is the case the other way around."_

"_I don't believe that." _I shook my head.

"_Isn't it getting hard to refuse to see it? Why do you think you were on the bottom of the lake today? You've only been 'friends' for a short time now. It wouldn't make any sense. But if he were in love with you, everything seems to fall into place, doesn't it?"_

I got back into my bed without saying anything else. But as I lay in my bed, I couldn't help but wonder for the first time, that maybe Noa was right. I was starting to run out of excuses as to why the boy always wanted to spend so much time with me. I still couldn't be sure about it though. I'd have to ask Dumbledore first how the 'victims' were chosen.

So the next day, I was planning on going to see professor Dumbledore but when I saw Harry sitting by himself at breakfast, I had to make a stop there. I had been a little curious as to why Weasley was in the lake yesterday as well.

"Hey Harry."

"Danny." He smiled, yep smiled. He must be in a good mood.

"You seem happy." I told him while sitting down in front of him.

"I am. For the first time since the beginning of this year, I think I might even have a chance at winning the tournament instead of just not getting hurt."

That might be a little too optimistic. I'll just be really happy if he gets to the end of the year alive. He can end last for all I care. That is not the main priority.

"Even Mr Crouch told me I was doing great and he didn't even want to let me compete to begin with."

I knew this side of my brother. It only rarely comes out but when it does, you have to be careful. He was getting cocky, a quality I rather like in myself but not so much in my brother.

"What else did he say to you yesterday?"

"He knew dad's parents. He told me it was very tragic whenever you lose family but life goes on. He looked kind of sad. I think maybe he might have been talking about his son."

"Look Harry, Bartemius Crouch may be a good wizard but he is not a good man. Stay away from him, please."

"There's nothing dangerous about him."

"I didn't say he was dangerous. I said he wasn't a good man." I told him.

"It doesn't matter. He'll only be back for the last task and I'll have other things on my mind then."

The third task. We didn't know anything about it and it was supposed to stay that way. I would still try my very best to figure it out. I already don't feel comfortable sending him to that task, imagine how I'd feel if he wasn't prepared for it.

"We'll figure out soon enough what the last task is. But right now I have to go." I told him when I got up.

"Where are you going?"

"There's something I have to ask Dumbledore."

"What is it?" Harry asked me before I could leave.

I sighed and sat down again. I'm not good at keeping things from Harry, unlike him. Whenever he asks me something, I'll tell him whatever it is he wants to know.

"I want to know how the people on the bottom of the lake were chosen."

"Why?"

"I need to know if it means you care more about Weasley than you do about me."

Telling him directly how I feel is something I haven't done in years. The older we had gotten, the less we shared about how we truly felt.

"You think that's the case?"

"I don't know."

"You're my sister, Danny. We are twins. Nothing will ever change that." He smiled slightly at me, remembering me of the words I had used when I told him I would be going to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts.

But Harry's words weren't enough. I needed to hear from Dumbledore himself that it didn't mean what I thought it did. So I still got up and left for Dumbledore's office. Luckily this time he was there but when the gargoyle asked me for the password, I realised I didn't know it. I must have stood there for a good twenty minutes, guessing what it could possibly be but with no right ones. Eventually someone came down the stairs leading up to the office.

"Can I help you with anything, miss Potter?" Dumbledore smiled brightly at me.

"Actually there is."

"I'm on my way to Hagrid's house but maybe you could tell me what is bothering you while we walk over there."

And so I did. We walked to Hagrid's house together and I told him exactly what I wanted to hear from him.

"I was wondering how you chose the people who had to be saved yesterday."

"Because you want to know why Harry didn't have to save you?" He asked me, his twinkling eyes making it clear to me he had known exactly what was bothering me.

"Yes." I said softly.

"I believe there is no harm in telling you. The task is already over."

I was glad I'd finally get my answer. Even though I had only been worrying about it since yesterday, it felt like I had been carrying that burden with me for much longer.

"We cast a spell on the four champions that would show us which person in the castle meant the most to them."

So it was true. Harry cared more about his best friend than he did about his sister.

"With your brother, it showed three people. The spell couldn't show us if one of them meant more than the others so we had to make a choice between you, Mr. Weasley and miss Granger."

"Then why didn't you choose me?"

"Miss Granger was also the person showed to us by the spell for Mr Krum so she was already out of the question for Harry. But the same happened with you. You were the only person the spell indicated as the person Mr Diggory cared the most about."

So Harry didn't care more about Weasley? Thank god, I don't think I would have ever been okay with it, if that were the case. But what Dumbledore just told me, made me wonder about some other things.

"Could the spell be wrong?" I asked him.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because me and Cedric have only met this year and we haven't been friends for that long. At least not long enough to be the most important person to him."

Dumbledore smiled at me as if he knew something that I didn't.

"The spell is never wrong."


	14. Crush

_Thank you __**Ocean7, Guatam Gupta, Kaylzzie**__, __**EmiStone, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, mazzy24, , Kiseki **__and __**Eltanin Rose **__for your great reviews. If you're looking for some mad, insane twist in my story I'm going to have to disappoint you. I'm not a fan of a lot of absurdness and madness in my stories (unexpected, yes) so Harry and Fleur won't go out together. Sorry. _

_I think it's really important that the people who post stories here, keep updating regularly. I hate it as well when you discover a good story and suddenly the writer disappears and you're futilely hoping for a new update that will never come. That's why I update every Thursday and you'll never have to wait longer than a week for a new chapter (unless I'm on vacation but I'll let you know when that happens). _

_Danny is indeed a no-nonsense kind of girl and always speaks her mind no matter the consequences. She can afford to be that way because she doesn't care about a whole lot of people. She does about Harry though and that's the reason she's so different around him. But she is spunky after all so don't think she doesn't have a limit when it comes to her brother. _

Chapter 14

I couldn't sleep that night. Everyone's words kept repeating themselves in my mind. Noa, Jonathan, Dumbledore. Were they right? Dumbledore didn't really say it and Jonathan just looked angry but did they really all think Cedric Diggory was in love with me? And even more importantly, was Cedric Diggory in love with me? If not, great. We could just be friends like I had always assumed we were. But if the answer to that question was yes, what was I going to do? Should I ask him about it or should I just ignore all this information thrown into my lap? But the spell was never wrong and Noa was right, we weren't that great friends.

The next day I didn't have to worry about that so much anymore since bigger things than who's crushing on who, were happening at Hogwarts. Rubeus Hagrid had found Mr Crouch's body in the forest. Body of course means that he's dead, murdered. On Hogwarts' property. Not only were four students competing in a lethal tournament, now we also had a murderer running around in the forest?! This is by far the most chaotic year in school. No wonder Harry always gets in trouble here. I was thinking that might have been the reason Dumbledore was going over to Hagrid's house when suddenly an arm grabbed me and forced me to sit down at the table of his house.

"Auw, what was that for?!" I shouted at Harry.

"Sorry but I have to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Mr crouch. He's dead."

"I know that Harry, it's all the people around here are talking about. Please tell me you don't have anything to do with that?" I sighed.

"What, you think Harry killed him?!" Granger yelled outraged.

"Yeah, that's what I think. Harry was only placed second so he slid Crouch's throat." I snapped at her sarcastically.

I really don't like her. I don't like Weasley either but I think I might dislike her just a little bit more than him, probably because she always butts in whenever I'm talking to Harry, as if that means I also want to talk to her.

"I found him." Harry said.

Of course he did. Trouble and apparently dead people or maybe just bad news in general are automatically drawn to my brother. I'm starting to think he might be cursed or something.

"But right before I did, my scar hurt."

That can't be good. His scar only hurts when things happen related to Voldemort. Now I'm pretty sure Crouch wasn't Voldemort in disguise since he already tried that plan and failed but it must be related somehow.

"Could have been a Death Eater." I thought out loud.

"You think Mr Crouch was a Death Eater? That's preposterous!" Granger opened that big mouth that I'd like to glue close again.

"Of course not but I think he might have been murdered by a Death Eater. I just don't know why."

"Maybe he knew something." Harry guessed.

"Or maybe Death Eaters are just crazy and Mr. Crouch was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They already attacked people randomly at the Cup this summer." Weasley tried.

He could have been right but somehow I find it very hard to believe that a Death Eater would have come on Hogwarts' property and kill a random person. The Death Eater must have come here with a plan.

"Well, we shouldn't worry about that right now. The Ministry will find the person who did that and punish them. Right now you need to focus on the final task, Harry. I've found a bunch of spells that will help you no matter what the task will be." Granger said before pulling out a huge book.

For once I agreed with the know-it-all. Harry needed to stay focussed on the last task instead of worrying about who might have killed Crouch and why. I needed to get to my class so I said goodbye to Harry and took off. Before I could make it one step to the door of the Great Hall, Harry stopped me.

"What is it?" I asked him.

He turned back to see if Weasley and Granger were following our conversation, which they weren't. They had gotten in some disagreement again and Harry looked back at me.

"I have to talk to you. Tonight, in my common room. You know the password, right?"

I nodded and he took his seat back at the table. I got to my class but kept wondering the entire time what he could possibly want to tell me that he didn't want his two best friends to know.

After dinner, I made my way over to the Gryffindor common room but got hold up before I got there. Apparently Jonathan had followed me and was calling me back now.

"_Jonathan." _I smiled at him but he didn't return the smile.

Wasn't he glad to see me? I was glad to see him even if he didn't pick the right moment to talk to me.

"_I have to ask you something, Danny and don't lie to me."_

"_Why would I lie to you?" _I asked him confused.

"_Do you even have any feelings for me or was I just the backup plan in case the Diggory guy wasn't interested?" _he spat angrily at me.

"_Of course I have feelings for you! I don't see why you have to ask me that again since I've told you before. And no, I don't have any feelings for Diggory."_

"_He clearly has feelings for you. I know it, you know it and yet you've done nothing to discourage him so far which makes me think you're either leading him on or me."_

"_I'm not leading anyone on! I honestly didn't know he had feelings for me."_

"_Oh, come on Danny. You don't honestly expect me to believe that, do you!?"_

"_I expect you to believe me."_

Why does everyone keep assuming I was perfectly aware that Cedric might have been interested in me that way? I had not seen it coming and I'm still not sure I believe he feels that way about me. Why would he? Sure, I'm not an ugly girl and kind of witty if I do say so myself but he was three years older than me and one of the Hogwarts Champions. Why would he want his competition's sister when he could have any girl he wants?

"_Fine, let's assume you didn't know that before but you can't tell me you don't know it now. What are you going to do about it?!"_

"_Do about what?"_

"_The guy saved you from the bottom of the lake because he's in love with you. You can't call that a little crush anymore. You either tell the guy to back the hell off or you and me are over."_

And with that said, he turned around and left me standing in the middle of the hall way gaping at him. I didn't think Jonathan would actually give me such an ultimatum. Fine, I don't return Cedric's feelings but I kind of like having him as my friend. He's one of the only people at Hogwarts who doesn't see 'Harry Potter's sister' when he looks at me. But was I willing to lose my boyfriend over this newfound friendship? I don't think I am.

Having the mystery conversation with my brother might be a way to get my mind of Jonathan's ultimatum but it might also raise a lot of new questions. I quickly made my way over to the portrait of the Fat Lady, said the password and entered the common room. It wasn't that hard to find Harry. He was sitting in front of the fireplace and shot up as soon as I entered the room. I guess he had been waiting for me.

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?" I asked him while I sat down.

"After I found Mr. Crouch, I had to go to professor Dumbledore's office. I told Ron and Hermione that he just wanted me to tell him the story but that's not all that happened there." Harry told me.

"What do you mean?"

"I overheard a conversation between professor Dumbledore and Fudge. They were talking about Mr Crouch and Dumbledore wanted Fudge to cancel the tournament which Fudge refused because he didn't want to come across as a coward."

"I always knew that man was way too self-centred to be the Minister of Magic." I interrupted him.

"They all left the room and Dumbledore told me to have a snack. I don't know what it was but it bit me."

That's a weird kind of snack and doesn't sound like something I'd be willing to put in my mouth.

"When it bit me, I bumped into a cupboard which opened and revealed a cup to me. It was a pensieve."

Dumbledore's pensieve? God, what I wouldn't give to see the memories of that man.

"Did you look into it?"

"I didn't mean to. I had just never seen a pensieve up close." He quickly defended himself but he should know as my brother that I really don't care if he goes snooping into people's stuff as long as it's not my stuff.

"What did you see?"

"Igor Karkarov selling out his fellow Death Eaters."

"We already knew he did that."

"He mentioned Snape's name."

"As a Death Eater?" I asked him confused.

"Yes, Dumbledore defended him but did say that Snape was indeed a Death Eater but chose to betray Voldemort before his fall and acted as a spy for the light side."

Severus Snape had been a Death Eater?! I guess it's not all that shocking since he had been in Slytherin when he went to Hogwarts as a student but my mother always took his side. I find it hard to believe my mother would ever defend a Death Eater.

"But he is on the right side now, right?"

"Yeah, I believe he is. But did you know it was Karkarov who betrayed Bartemius Crouch Jr. and is the reason he got captured and sent to Azkaban?"

"No, I didn't. What if Crouch, Jr. that is, is still alive and that is the reason I saw him on the map?"

"But how?"

"I don't know but he has a motive to kill his own father. His father is the one who condemned him to a life in Azkaban. Maybe he came here to have his revenge and maybe Karkarov is his next victim and the reason you're dreaming about him is because you might be on his kill-list as well. After all you are the reason his Dark Lord is no longer alive."

"I hate to admit it, but you are making sense to me."

I totally agreed with him. I do not like the idea of a dangerous Death Eater going after my brother either but it was starting to sound like a good possibility.

"That's not all."

"What more is there?" I feared his answer.

"Dumbledore caught me and he told me had been looking for an answer as to why all these things were happening but that he just couldn't find the answer even though he felt like he was so close to it. He wasn't making a lot of sense. And then I told him about my dream."

"What did he say?"

"He told me not to think about it anymore."

Well, that's not really useful!

"On my way back to the common room, I heard voices."

Was the story still not over? What else could have happened? Did he actually see Crouch or something?

"It was Snape and Karkarov talking about the sign."

"Sign?"

"The mark of Voldemort which I assume they both have on their arm. I've seen Karkarov's. I don't know what they were saying about it, but they both seemed angry when they saw me standing in the hallway."

"Please tell me you got away as fast as you could."

"I tried but Snape called me back. He accused me of stealing his gillyweed."

"His what?"

"Gillyweed. It's the weed I used to breath under water for the second task."

I had been wondering how Harry had pulled that one off. I had never heard of gillyweed before so I was rather surprised that Harry had thought of it. He had no idea what to do when I had left him the night before.

"Did you steal it?"

"Of course not, I'm not that stupid to steal from Snape. He threatened to use Veritaserum on me if I ever steal from his supply again."

"Isn't that forbidden?"

"It is but he doesn't seem to care about that."

"Harry, if you didn't steal the gillyweed from Snape's supply then where did you get it?"

"Dobby."

The house elf who had been working at Hogwarts out of his own free will? Where the hell would he get gillyweed?

"And it didn't occur to you that Dobby might have been the one stealing from Snape's supply?"

"Of course not. The gillyweed can be expected but that wasn't the only thing Snape was missing. He said all the ingredients for a poly juice potion were missing as well. I'm pretty sure Dobby isn't brewing one."

Poly juice potion? The ghost, Moaning Mertyl, had mentioned something about that as well.

"Maybe Dobby isn't but someone else might be." I thought out loud. "I don't know but it can't be any good."

"It's just poly juice potion, Danny."

"You might be wrong about that." I sighed.

What I didn't tell Harry was that it would be a pretty brilliant plan for a Death Eater to use poly juice potion with the hair of a student and impersonate them to get close to Crouch, Karkarov and Harry. It would explain why I saw Crouch Jr.'s name on the map but haven't actually seen him walking around the castle. Could it be that one of the students here was Bartemius Crouch Jr. on poly juice potion? That is not a pleasant thought.

For the next week I avoided Jonathan as well as Cedric because I hadn't really chosen what I was going to do about Jonathan's ultimatum. The truth is I did know what I would have to do, I just didn't want to do it. Unfortunately avoiding people is something said people eventually notice because Cedric suddenly came up to me when I was sitting in the library, reading about the spells Granger insisted Harry learned. There were some pretty good ones among them and right now I'm actually grateful she's his friend.

"Hi Danny." He smiled, sitting down next to me.

"Oh, hey Cedric." I smiled back though not very sincerely.

"What are you reading?" He asked me trying to glance at the spells.

"Harry's preparation for the next task so if you want to keep your sockets filled with eyeballs, I suggest you look away."

"Very harsh, Danny." He laughed but looked away anyway, long enough for me to put it back in my bag.

"Is the final task the reason you've been avoiding me?"

I sighed. That hadn't really been the reason. I had finally figured out that just because he and Harry are competing against each other in the same tournament, doesn't mean he and I can't be friends. But I don't know if I could stay friends with him if he was indeed in love with me.

"Not really." I muttered.

"Then what is? And don't tell me you haven't been avoiding me because I know you have."

"It's just something people have been saying." I stayed vague.

"What have they been saying then? That you should beware of my dangerous charms? Because they might be right about that." He grinned but stopped once he realised I wasn't amused at all. "Danny, what have they been saying to you?"

"Did you lie to me?" I changed the topic. "Did you lie when I asked you for the reason I was at the bottom of the lake during the second task?"

He seemed genuinely surprised by my question, surprised enough to forget about what he had asked me before I asked him that.

"Why would you think that?"

But I realised that he didn't deny the fact that he had lied to me.

"You didn't really have to save me because we're friends, did you? You have enough friends who you've known much longer than the one year we've known each other."

He didn't answer me. He just looked incredibly uncomfortable but there was this longing in his eyes and a hint of hope. Noa had been right. Jonathan had been right. They had all been right and I had been wrong. Now that it is so obvious in his eyes to see, I find it very stupid of myself I hadn't seen it earlier. He had given me his miniature dragon when I didn't even allow him yet to call me by my first name, he had told me he only asked Cho to the Yule ball because the girl he had wanted to ask was already going with someone else and when I had asked him if he wanted to ask Cho out on a date, he had almost been desperate to find out the reason why I had asked him such a thing. And I had been at the bottom of the lake because I was the most important person to him in this castle. How could I have been blind enough to not see this?!

"You don't just want to be friends, do you?"

"No." He whispered.

Well, that was it. I would have to tell him now that we couldn't be friends anymore because he likes me too much.

"There's just something about you, Danny..." He told me while shifting a little closer to me. "...that draws me in. I don't know what it is and frankly, I don't really care about a proper name for it. I just know that I like you, way more than I've ever liked a girl and it kind of freaks me out because until a few weeks ago, I wasn't even sure you liked me as a friend, let alone something more."

I knew in the back of my mind that his face was starting to get too close to mine to still be comfortable but why wasn't I pushing him away? He raised his hand to the side of my face and that is what made me realise that I should be turning him down right now, not let him touch me.

"Cedric!" I pushed his hand away. "I don't feel that way about you."

"You don't?"

He seemed so sad but I couldn't help the way I feel.

"No, I have a boyfriend. And he's the one I like. I'm sorry."

"You have a boyfriend?" He said shocked. "I didn't know that. I'm sorry. I would never go after someone else's girlfriend."

He got up and starting making his way to the library exit before I could say anything else. But he turned back toward me before making it out.

"But we can still be friends, right?" He smiled sadly.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Cedric." I told him softly but he heard me.

He nodded and quickly walked away. I felt like crap. He had seemed really hurt when I told him I didn't feel the same way about him and that we couldn't even be friends anymore.

I sat in the library for the rest of the day, being mad at myself for hurting Cedric even though I can't think of anything I should have done differently. Somehow I think he would have ended up getting hurt no matter what I did.

Even though I had chosen what Jonathan had wanted me to do, I still avoided him in the next few days. I like Jonathan, I really do. I wouldn't go as far as to say I was madly in love with him but I just hurt another guy for him. That should count for something, right? I was mad at him though. What kind of boyfriend forces his girlfriend to choose between him and a friend? Fine, I hadn't really been all that close to Cedric but that still makes it kind of mean what he did.

Because of all the drama going on in my love life, I couldn't properly focus on the final task that was approaching fast. There were only a few weeks of school left and I kind of wasted them away. Harry was preparing for the Final task with his friends' help and seemed to be doing fine without me. None of the other champions knew what to expect either so somehow I felt kind of relieved that this would be a task that didn't require much preparation. This left time to finally start studying for the first time this year. Exams were coming up and I was desperately behind on my schoolwork. I worked my butt off those last few weeks. I was lucky enough to have Noa help me. After I told her that I talked to Cedric and made it clear we couldn't be friends anymore, her anger just disappeared. She just hadn't been happy about the whole situation because she thought I had been lying to her and playing Cedric as well as Jonathan and she liked both boys enough to feel bad about that.

I had actually stayed mad at Jonathan for quite some time. He eventually cornered me and demanded to tell him what I had decided about our relationship and my friendship with Cedric. After I yelled at him, I told him I had chosen him. Even though he hadn't really shown it before, he told me he had been very afraid I would choose Cedric over him.

So me and Jonathan were okay and picked up just where we left off. Harry was prepared for the final task and I was prepared for the upcoming tests. It seemed like there wasn't a lot left to be worried about but there was this nagging feeling that I had for no apparent reason. It made me feel on edge for the past days and it only got worse.

The last days before the final task I had a recurrent nightmare, sort of like Harry had during the entire year. But mine wasn't about Voldemort or Pettigrew or Crouch. Strangely enough it wasn't even about Harry. In my dream I was standing in the middle of a graveyard. It had a very gloomy look over it but at the same time it felt familiar. I didn't know why because I was convinced I had never seen that place before in my life. It was the feeling that had been familiar. It's the feeling I've gotten every single year at Beauxbatons whenever Harry was getting himself in trouble again. But he wasn't this time. I checked on him on a regular basis and for once he wasn't doing anything stupid.

It wasn't until the morning of the final task that I had an idea of what my dream could mean. That strange feeling has only happened to me when something bad was going to happen to Harry. Stupidly I thought nothing was happening to him right now while I know something has been happening to him all year. It was the final task. That was the reason I had the feeling something was about to go terribly wrong. The final task was going to go terribly wrong.

I searched for Harry the entire day. I needed to warn him about it even though I couldn't really tell him what 'it' was. But apparently all the champions had vanished for the day. I thought about warning Fleur as well since I didn't know if this danger would only apply to Harry or also to the other champions but she was nowhere to be found either

I ran into Weasley and Granger eventually and practically forced them to tell me where I could find my brother. They didn't know where he was either but they did tell me that professor McGonagall had come to find Harry at breakfast and they hadn't seen him since then. We all assumed the champions were off somewhere preparing themselves for the final task. Unfortunately that meant there was no way I could warn Harry.


	15. The Final Task

_Thank you __**Pjofan44, Ocean7, xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, Kiseki **__and __**Tanya**__ for your lovely reviews. _

_This is kind of the chapter I've been leading up to so it would mean a lot if you all reviewed. Just for you guys this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Almost 6000 words. I hope you enjoy :) _

Chapter 15

People were gathering near the quidditch field for the Final task. The field had been transformed into some kind of labyrinth. I can only imagine what kind of horrors the champions would be facing there. I, like everyone else, was going to the field as well. I still needed to figure out a way to warn Harry.

"Danny!"

My thought were interrupted when a familiar voice called my name. I quickly turned around to the source of that voice. What were they doing here? My entire family stood near the pitch as well. My father, my mother, uncle Remus and uncle Sirius were all here. I quickly ran over to them and embraced them all.

"What are you doing here?" I asked them.

"We already missed Harry's first two tasks and apparently it was quite the spectacle. We weren't going to miss the last one." Uncle Sirius grinned.

"Professor Dumbledore invited the families of the champions to be here tonight." My mother smiled warmly at me but I could see she was also worried about Harry.

"Have you seen Harry?" She asked me.

I told her I hadn't. At that moment I thought I could tell my parents that Harry was in some kind of danger and then they could help me find him. But my mother already had that worried look on her face and I did not want to make it worse. So I decided not to tell them of my fear and found another way to get the chance to talk to Harry.

I didn't know where the champions were right now but I knew they'd eventually have the enter the place where all the students were finding a seat right now. If I could just cause some kind of uphold when the champions enter the 'arena', for lack of a better word. I just needed the chance to talk to him so I could tell him to be careful. I knew I wouldn't be able to make him drop out but I at least wanted him to be aware of the potential danger. But for that I needed the help of someone who knew how to cause a holdup like no one else and who would be better for that than the Weasley twins?

"Fred! George!"

I had found them easily. They were selling something weird looking to a couple of curious first years. I had called them over and they sat down next to me with that eager expression on their faces. I bet they were hoping I had some mischief planned.

"Danny." Fred smiled.

"I need your help with something."

"We were already hoping you would say something like that." George grinned.

I explained to them what I needed and they came up with the perfect plan. I didn't even have to do anything. They were so thrilled about it that they insisted I'd just sit back and admire their work.

I went to sit next to my mother and father. They both noticed that I was very much on edge but they probably thought it was the normal kind of nerves for this situation. Now that I think of it, I'm not even sure if they knew about what had happened to me the previous years when Harry had been in danger. I certainly didn't tell them.

The band started playing this upbeat and excited tune that could not have reflected my current mood any worse. The champions came in one by one. First Cedric, then Fleur, followed by Krum and eventually Harry. He looked nervous but I still thought he could look way more scared considering the things that might happen in this last task. I can't believe I had not been stressed about this task the last few weeks, even before I had that strange dream. Dumbledore stood in the middle and was about to start one of his infamous speeches when we suddenly heard a shriek.

The shriek had come from the part of the tribune that seated the Beauxbatons girls and for a good reason. There were these hand sized nasty creatures made out of wood who were creeping up on them and trying to bite them. Where did they come from?

"Wow, who brought Bowtruckles here?"Sirius said excited.

The smile on the twins' faces made it clear this was their distraction and what a distraction it was. I told my mother I had to pee and quickly ran over to Harry.

"Harry!"

"Danny? What are you doing here? The final task is about to start."

"I know but I needed to tell you something first."

I quickly pulled Harry away from the others because it was after all a private conversation that I wanted to have with him.

"What is it?" He asked me.

"I know this will sound really weird to you but I've got this bad feeling that something terrible is going to happen tonight, to you."

"Because you've got a feeling?" He frowned.

"I've never been wrong about this before. It's the same nauseous feeling I had when you went down into the Chamber of Secrets or when you faced all those dementors."

"I'm doing the task."

I sighed. I had expected this. He is not one to back down even when things get hard and potentially life-threatening.

"I know but just promise me that you will be careful. You'll be so incredibly careful that you won't have any fun, okay?"

"Fine." He gave in and went back to the rest of the champions.

It seemed like the professors had gotten rid of all the Bowtruckles and Dumbledore would soon announce the start of the third and final task. I quickly wished Fleur good luck and was about to go back to my seat when I realised I should still say something to Cedric as well.

He was standing at the side, watching what was going on around him. He looked nervous, probably because this is what it all comes down to. Eternal glory was in his reach and I'm sure he doesn't want it to slip away. I hesitated for a moment. I didn't know if he would be willing to listen to me after our last conversation. I shrugged and went to stand next to him anyway.

"Hi." I spoke softly.

He seemed surprised that I was talking to him which makes sense since last time I told him we couldn't even be friends anymore after he almost tried to kiss me.

"Danny? What... Shouldn't you be sitting over there right now?" He pointed toward my family in the tribune.

"Yes, I just wanted to wish you good luck." I smiled a little forced.

"Oh, thanks." He smiled but he wasn't being all that sincere either.

Then this awkward silence fell between the two of us. There were things I wanted to tell him and I'm sure he still had some thoughts he wanted to voice to me but no one said another word.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's loud voice interrupted any conversation in the tribune. "Professor Moody has hidden the cup deep inside the maze. Only he knows its exact position. Now as Mr. Diggory..."

People started cheering and Cedric waved at some of them. I suddenly felt very much aware of the fact that I was standing next to him and a lot of eyes were on me as well, including those of my boyfriend. Shit.

"...And Mr. Potter tie for the first position, they will be first to enter the maze. Followed by Mr Krum and Miss Delacour. The first one to touch the cup, will be the winner!"

All the people were cheering and it gave me a moment to talk to Cedric before he would enter the maze together with my brother. It had been awkward a few seconds earlier but I felt like I should give him some kind of warning.

"Be careful." I whispered to him.

"I'm always careful."

"No, that's not what I meant." I turned completely to him. "I have a bad feeling about all this so being careful as usually won't do. You have to be unable to be taken by surprise."

"Okay." He smiled softly.

"Thank you. I'm already biting off all my nails worrying about Harry, don't make me worry about you as well."

"Danny, I-" He started.

"Contestants, gather around. Quickly!" Dumbledore suddenly turned to us.

That was my cue to leave. I smiled slightly at both Cedric and Harry before making my way back to my seat on the tribune.

"Where did you go?" My mother asked me when I sat down again.

"Just wishing them all good luck." I shrugged.

Dumbledore was saying something to all the champions but I couldn't hear any of it from my place but I guess that was sort of the point.

"Champions, prepare yourselves. On the count of three. One."

The canon was shot off too early but the band started playing so that meant the first two champions would enter the maze. Please let them be alright. Please don't let anything happen to Harry. He entered the maze and where there had been a path before, the hey closed itself and we could no longer see Harry.

For a whole hour, I was constantly shifting in my seat, my mind filled with worry for my brother. To make things even worse the nagging feeling that never predicted anything good, grew with every minute Harry was in that maze. My parents noticed that I was more nervous than made sense in this situation but they seemed almost too afraid to ask me why.

Suddenly there were red sparks filling the air. What was that?

"What does it mean?" I asked my mother.

"Someone is in trouble. Dumbledore said earlier that if there is a problem, they should summon red sparks in the air and then they would come help them. The person would be forfeiting the tournament though."

Please don't let it be Harry! Or do let it be Harry? The feeling hadn't become life-threatening so I would have known if something terrible had happened. If those sparks came from Harry at least he'd be out of the competition and I would know he was safe.

That idea was shattered when they brought Fleur back from the maze. She looked worryingly pale but she seemed to be alright besides that. She had some cuts across her face and arms but nothing too serious. I just wish I knew what he was facing in that maze right now.

I was trying to hear any kind of noise coming from the maze but the only sound that reached my ears were the conversations in the tribune. My mother who was seated next to me kept throwing me worried glances but I couldn't tell her the reason of my nerves. I didn't want her to feel as useless as I did.

The pain came so sudden and unexpected that I couldn't stop the scream falling from my lips. The pain burning on my forehead was so intense, I fell to the ground on the tribune, still screaming as though I was dying. Wasn't I? I could see my mother kneeling down beside me right before the pain took over and I was being sucked out of my body.

"It's a portkey. Harry, the cup is a portkey."

"I've been here before."

The headache was still killing me but I was no longer in my body. I wasn't a ghost either but I was clearly something like it. I could see two figures ahead of me in the graveyard. I would have wondered what the hell I was doing in a graveyard but I recognised those two figures as Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter. Harry!

"In a dream." Harry said, looking at one of the stones.

"Harry." I yelled but I sounded like some kind of haunting spirit. No wonder Harry almost had a heart attack when he heard me.

"Danny?"

"What are you talking about?" Cedric came over to where me and Harry were standing but he was looking right through me. I guess he couldn't see me.

"How come you're here?" Harry gaped at me.

In the tribune I had no idea what was going to happen but now that I had taken this new form I could hear the voices inside of the little house and I knew what would happen if I didn't do anything about it.

"You have to get out of here."

"Why?"

"What is going on?!" Cedric seemed lost but we did not have the time for Harry to explain to him what was happening.

"He's here, Harry. Voldemort is here. Run."

"What about Cedric?"

"What about me?"

"Run, both of you. He's coming."

"Cedric, we have to get back to the cup. Now!" Harry finally started acting.

"What are you talking about?"

Why couldn't Cedric just listen to what Harry said? Why couldn't he just get back to the cup like he was told to?

The burning pain was back in my head, stronger than ever but this time Harry felt it as well. Once again the pain made me pass out and I was back in my normal body at Hogwarts. I was screaming out in pain again, knowing that everything I was feeling was happening to Harry right now as well. That made it hurt even more. Through the tears that had formed in my eyes I could see my family standing around me, screaming at someone to do something.

"Harry." I whispered through the pain but I couldn't warn them in time for the danger he was in because I passed out again.

I don't know how much time had passed between the last time I had stood in the graveyard but suddenly there were a lot more people.

"Astonishing what a few drops of your blood will do."

The man speaking was bold, pale and hideous. Yet the way he spoke and the way the eight people around him stared at him with fear and respect, made me realise that this was him. Voldemort. Standing right in front of Harry who was trapped on one of the graves. I wanted to reach out to him but my hand went right through it as if I truly were a ghost.

Harry didn't seem able to see me this time. I tried to yell at him but there was no reaction. His eyes continually skipped from Voldemort to something on the ground. What was he looking at? A body. Harry was staring at the lifeless body of Cedric Diggory.

"No!" I screamed and for a moment it seemed like Harry had heard me but for a moment I didn't care.

I ran to Cedric and tried to make him get up and show me that he was alright. My hand once again went right through but even if I had a body right now, I don't think he would have responded any differently. Cedric was dead. He was dead, killed by Voldemort and I could have prevented it. Had I been in my normal body I am sure, tears would have fallen down my face in grief. Cedric had not deserved to die. Cedric was young and brave and such a great friend to me even when I stepped on his heart. How I wish that heart was still beating.

"Pick up your wand, Potter."

Voldemort had released Harry and made him pick up his wand. I wanted to stay by Cedric's side a little longer but there was nothing left that I could do for him. Harry however was still alive, I could help him. I scrambled to my feet again and made my way over to my brother who was now facing one of the most evil wizards of all time.

"I said pick it up. Get up! Get up!" Voldemort shouted at my brother.

What could I do? I could not hold anything, my hand would go right through it. I was a ghost, even less than that. Harry could see a ghost. He could not see me.

"You've been taught how to duel I presume, yes? First we bow to each other. Come on now, Harry, the niceties must be preserved. Dumbledore wouldn't want you to forget your manners, would he?"

Voldemort was acting as it they were at a tea party and Harry hadn't waited the proper amount of time before starting with the scones. He's completely mental.

"I said bow." He pointed his wand at Harry.

He used the imperius curse on him to make him bow. Harry had fought off the curse in his Defence Against The Dark Arts lesson but now it was Voldemort doing it to him and he could not fight hard enough against it.

"That's better." Voldemort almost smiled at the way he was treating my brother.

Harry fell to the ground and how I wish I could have been able to brace his fall, to face Voldemort with him or even better, take his place.

"Crucio!"

"No!" I shouted but to no avail.

Harry was writhing in pain on the grass and all I could do was watch. Is this how it would end? Would I watch my own brother die in front of me without being able to help him? I charged at Voldemort and tried to grab his wand, make him stop but I went right through and he didn't even feel that.

Finally he stopped. He said something to Harry but I didn't pay attention to his words. My attention went to my brother who was panting on the ground.

"Your family would be proud."

He said it almost mockingly but it was true. I was so proud of my brother for standing up against this monster. I just wish it wouldn't be in vain.

"Especially your filthy muggle mother." Voldemort hissed.

"Expeliarmus!" Harry shouted but it was no use.

Voldemort blocked his spell with ease and I was afraid this was how the rest of the duel would go.

"I am going to kill you, Harry Potter. I'm going to destroy you."

"No..." I whispered.

"After tonight no one will ever again question my powers." Voldemort told Harry before kneeling in front of him.

I tried to grab Voldemort but it did not matter. I was nothing more than air.

"After tonight if they speak of you, they'll speak of how you begged for death and I, being a merciful Lord, obliged."

"Harry." I sobbed.

I had never felt more powerless than this.

"Get up!" Voldemort got Harry back on his feet.

Harry saw his opportunity to hide behind one of the gravestones. Luckily, because another spell meant for him, rebounded on the stone.

"Don't you turn your back on me, Harry Potter! I want you to look at me when I kill you. I want to see the light leave your eyes."

I did not want him to have that satisfaction so I was relieved that my brother had found himself what was probably the safest place in this graveyard of doom. That is why I didn't understand why Harry would voluntarily leave his hiding place to face Voldemort.

"No, Harry. What are you doing?!"

"Have it your way."

Did Harry not understand that Voldemort's way meant Harry would die? He quickly pulled out his wand and shouted 'Expeliarmus' at the same time that Voldemort shouted the killing curse. Harry didn't die, neither did his spell affect Voldemort. Their two spells clashed in the middle and summoned rays of light.

I could see Harry losing. He was not strong enough to defeat Voldemort. He was not strong enough to save his life. But he wouldn't have to do it alone. The ray of light I had been standing so close to had gone right through me. Because of that I was once again something between the living and a ghost. I still did not have my body but I could tell by Harry's look in his eyes that he could see me again.

I could feel the presence of other spirits like me around but they weren't important. Harry was trying to hold on with everything he had left and it seemed like he was losing.

"Harry, you need to get back to the portkey!"

He had heard me but if he stopped the spell right now, Voldemort's would hit him and this would have all been for nothing.

"We can linger for a moment to give you some time but only for a moment." One of the other spirits said.

The man had thick dark hair and looked like my father. The woman standing next to him had long black hair and a beautiful smile. My grandparents. My father's parents. They were dead, killed by Voldemort on the night he lost his powers and gave my brother his scar. The figures had come from Voldemort's wand. They were the last people he had killed.

"Do you understand?" My grandfather asked Harry who nodded.

"Harry, take Cedric's body with you." I told him.

Even if he was gone from this world, his parents should have a body to burry.

"Let go." I said to my brother, knowing me and my grandparents would be able to distract Voldemort for a moment, long enough to get Harry out of here. " Harry, you're ready. Let go. Let go!"

I can only assume he did what I told him because the next moment I followed the other figures to Voldemort who could not see my brother anymore for a while. I wanted to turn around and make sure that Harry had really left the graveyard but as soon as my ghostly presence reached Voldemort, I was sucked back in my agonizing mortal body.

My mother's teary face was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes again, followed by my father bossing madam Pomfrey around.

"Harry." I breathed out.

"Oh, Danny. Are you okay? Where does it hurt?" I was bestowed with motherly love.

Harry! Where was Harry?! He should have already been back at Hogwarts. That's where the portkey was supposed to take him. I tried to get up but madam Pomfrey pushed me back on the ground, saying I should stay there until she figured out what had happened to me. I didn't have time to rest on the floor, I needed to know where Harry was.

Suddenly the music started playing and the crowd was cheering. Why would they be cheering?! It was the distraction for my family and I could get up. In the arena where the champions had left what seemed like days ago, my brother had reappeared with the portkey and Cedric's body. The people thought they had their champion. They had not yet seen Cedric's lifeless body or Harry's battered face. They didn't until someone screamed.

Slowly more people started realising what had happened but I was already rushing down the stairs to my brother's side. Dumbledore was trying to pry Harry of Cedric's lifeless body when I arrived.

"No! No!" Harry screamed, clinging on to Cedric as if that could make him come back to life. "He's back! He's back! Voldemort's back!"

I tried pushing my way through the crowd but everyone was trying to catch a glimpse of the two fallen champions.

"I brought Cedric's body back. I couldn't leave him, not there." He cried.

I finally saw an opening to get to my brother. I fell on my knees in front of him and grabbed his face gently in my hands.

"It's alright, Harry. It's alright."

I deliberately didn't look at Cedric. I was afraid my heart could not bear it. In the meantime I focused on Harry face. My heart was glad he was safe. There were so many people talking around us but I didn't care, all I could focus on was my brother.

In the distance I could hear my parents trying to come closer but that was all overruled by the painful scream that I heard nearby. The scream of a father who has lost a son.

"That's my son! It's my boy!"

Harry's tears went straight to my heart but Mr Diggory's desperate screams pulled on my heartstrings as well. I still could not look at Cedric's body or his father's face but the pain I could feel.

Suddenly Harry's face was gone. I looked up to see professor Moody had pulled him to his feet and was dragging him away from the arena. Like hell I was letting Harry disappear again. He should not be alone right now. I quickly scrambled to my feet as well and followed them.

"It's alright, I've got you." I heard Moody say to him.

"Harry!" I caught up with them.

"You don't want to be here right now, Miss Potter."

"I am not leaving Harry!" I said loud and clear to make him understand that there was no getting rid of me.

Professor Moody just nodded and allowed me to follow them back to his chambers. Harry was still sobbing and reminded me so much of a little boy that I couldn't help but wish our parents were here right now. They were probably looking for us.

By the time we reached Moody's chambers Harry had calmed down and seemed to finally be noticing my presence again.

"You were there." He whispered.

"I was." I nodded.

Moody gently pushed my brother on a chair and I once again knelt beside him, clenching his hands in mine.

"You alright, Potter?" Moody asked and Harry nodded, not convincing me.

"Does it hurt?" Moody suddenly asked.

Only then did I notice the blood that was dripping down his arm, staining my hands as well. Was he hurt?! I quickly raised his sleeve and saw a carving on his arm. What was it?

"Not so much now." He mumbled.

"Perhaps I better take a look at it then." Moody slapped my hands away and traced the carving on my brother's arm.

"The cup was a portkey." He told Moody because he knew that I had already been aware of it. "Someone had bewitched it."

"What was it like?" Moody suddenly asked him. "What was he like?"

"Who?" Harry asked him confused.

"The Dark Lord. What was it like to stand in his presence?"

Why would he ask such a thing? Wouldn't the first question of an Auror be how Voldemort was able to come back because I was still having some difficulties with that part since that had been the moment my body had chosen to call me back to it.

"I don't know. It was like I had fallen into one of my dreams, into one of my nightmares. "

I gripped his hand tighter. Moody was rummaging through all his stuff and acting really weird.

"Were there others in the graveyard?"

My heart stopped beating for a second. How had he known it was at a graveyard? Harry had never said such a thing.

"I... I don't think I said anything about a graveyard, professor." He turned towards Moody.

I didn't look at him but kept my gaze on one of the walls. The wheels in my head had started spinning and I seemed to only be able to draw one conclusion.

"Marvellous creatures, dragons, aren't they?" Moody said. "Do you think that miserable oaf would have led you into the woods if I hadn't suggested it? You think Cedric Diggory would have thought to hold the egg under the water if I hadn't told him first myself?!"

Oh, no.

"Do you think Dobby, the witless wonder, could have provided you with gillyweed if I hadn't given him the book that led him straight to it? Huh?!"

"It was you." I spoke. "It was you all along. You put Harry's name in the goblet of fire."

"And you bewitched Krum." Harry said. "But-"

"But, but... You won because I made it so, Potter. You ended up in that graveyard tonight because it was meant to be so and now the deed is done." He grabbed Harry's hand again and stared in awe at the carving. "The blood that runs through these veins, runs within The Dark Lord."

He had once again released Harry's arm and was staring at Harry's blood on his fingers. Harry's blood had been the key to resurrecting Voldemort?! My blood. That's what Moody had meant when he said I was important because I shared Harry's blood. I was the substitute for Harry's blood.

"Imagine how he would reward me when he learns that I have once and for all silenced the great Harry Potter." He threatened while his hand pulled out his wand.

Harry's wand still lay in the arena but I had mine. I quickly pulled it out and shouted 'Expeliarmus'. Moody fell back in a chair. I still kept my eyes fixated on him, making sure I was ready for any sudden movement.

"His flask, Harry. Give it to me."

If my thoughts were correct the drink in his flask would be polyjuice potion. When Harry handed it over to me, I uncorked it and smelled.

"Polyjuice potion."

"What? It's not professor Moody?!"

"I don't think the real Moody ever set foot in this castle."

This entire year the one who passed as professor Moody had been able to help Voldemort gain back his body because no one in the world would ever suspect one of the greatest Aurors to be a Death Eater.

Suddenly the door was blown out of its hinges and there stood Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape. Dumbledore had his wand pointed to the fake Moody as well while Snape poured a potion in his mouth which I can only assume is Veritaserum.

"Do you know who I am?" Dumbledore demanded.

"Albus Dumbledore." He grumbled.

"Are you Allistor Moody? Are you?!"

"No."

"Is he in this room? Is he in this room?!" Dumbledore shouted at him.

The fake Moody pointed to a chest in the corner of his room. Dumbledore ordered me and Harry to get out of the way before he opened it. At the bottom of the very deep coffin lay a body, the real Allistor Moody.

"You alright, Allistor?"

"I'm sorry, Albus." Said the voice from the depth of the coffin.

I handed the flask I still held to the specialist among them. Snape smelled the potion as well and came to the same conclusion as me.

"Polyjuice potion." He said and I nodded.

"Now we know who has been stealing from your stores, Severus." Dumbledore said.

I was hoping the Veritaserum would still be working because I was tired of not knowing for sure whether my theory was right or wrong.

"Are you Bartemius Crouch Jr.?" I asked the man who had been posing for Moody the entire year.

"Yes."

Well, that certainly explained a lot of things. He suddenly started shaking severely and his body and face went through some changes until the man I knew from the photos as Bartemius Crouch Jr. sat before us. When the change was complete, he got this dark look over his face before he tried to attack Harry once again. Fortunately he didn't stand a chance with four people in the room trying to prevent such a thing.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." He said to Harry while pulling up his sleeve to reveal the dark mark to us.

"What does he mean?" I turned to Harry.

"Your arm, Harry" Dumbledore grabbed his arm and revealed the carving again which seemed to have some similarity to the mark on Crouch's arm.

"You know what this means, don't you? He's back. Lord Voldemort has returned."

The way he said it made shivers run down my spine.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I couldn't help it."

Of course Harry couldn't help it. He fought as hard as he could and he had me as an eyewitness to prove it although it might be a little hard to convince people I had been there while my body was still at Hogwarts.

"Send a note to Azkaban. I think they'll find they're missing a person." Dumbledore said to McGonagall.

"I'll be welcomed back like a hero."Crouch smiled like a crazy man.

"Personally I've never had much time for heroes." Dumbledore ushered Harry out of the room and I followed.

I glanced one more time behind me to look at the man who had almost gotten my brother killed and was responsible for Cedric's death. How could I ever have felt sorry for that man?!

I followed Harry and professor Dumbledore all the way to the hospital ward. Madam Pomfrey seemed to already be waiting for us, as were our parents who engulfed Harry in hugs first and then me. There Harry told them all what had happened at the graveyard while madam Pomfrey tended to his wounds. She tried to do the same to me but I had no external wounds. I was just exhausted. I filled in the gaps when Harry had difficulty to fully explain what had happened. My father had been surprised when we told him that we had seen our grandparents.

Eventually, after telling the story at least another three times, me and Harry were allowed to go to sleep. I still refused to leave my brother's side so professor Dumbledore allowed for me to spend the night at the Gryffindor tower, in Harry's dorm for just this once. Harry seemed to be pleased as well that he didn't have to be alone tonight. I would see my parents again tomorrow.

"Danny?" Harry's whisper came out the dark.

The other boys hadn't been very pleased with my presence but I had silenced them all with a spell before lying down on the mattress placed next to Harry's bed.

"Yes?"

"How come you were there, at the graveyard?"

I didn't really have an answer for it but I tried to give him one anyway.

"The same way I was there last year. It's your SOS-button."

"My what?"

"Every time you're in danger, you subconsciously call for me. At least that's what Dumbledore thinks. " I shrugged even though Harry couldn't possibly see that in the dark. "I'm thinking it's one screwed up twin bond."

"I was glad you were there." Harry said after a moment of silence. "It comforted me, knowing I wasn't completely alone."

"You'll never be alone, not as long as I'm alive." I whispered but I'm not sure he still heard me because his snoring followed soon after.


	16. What is dead, stays dead

_Thank you __**xXMizz Alec VolturiXx, sara253xxx, feliciaab, Prettylittleliarxxx **__and __**Kiseki **__for reviewing chapter 15. _

_This is the last chapter but don't worry, I'm going to continue this during all the books. I will post the chapter during 5__th__ year as a new story so definitely keep an eye out for it. I've only written 2 chapters for it but I'll probably upload it very soon. _

Chapter 16

The next morning the other students had allowed me and Harry to sleep as long as we pleased. Harry had been exhausted so he only woke up at noon. I hadn't left the room once and was there when he opened his eyes again.

"Good morning, Harry." I smiled.

He mumbled a greeting back before retreating in the bathroom to get changed. When he entered the room again, I occupied the bathroom to do the same. When I came back in the dorm fully dressed someone else was there as well.

"Good morning, Miss Potter." Dumbledore greeted me.

"I've put you in terrible danger this year, Harry. I'm sorry." He addressed Harry again.

Even though I am grateful for Dumbledore appearing last night when he did and possibly saving us, I still held some anger towards the man for allowing my brother to enter the competition that was supposed to be his grave.

"Professor, when I was in the graveyard, there was a moment when Voldemort's wand and mine sort of... connected."

"Priori Incantatem." Dumbledore whispered under his breath.

"You saw your grandparents that night, didn't you?" He suddenly got up. "They reappeared."

Harry got this absurd smile on his face as if he believed that meant they were no longer dead.

"No spell can reawaken the dead, Harry. I trust you know that."

Harry seemed disappointed but surely he must know that.

"Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy. Remember this, you have friends here and family." He looked at me. "You're not alone."

He turned around to leave the room again but I stopped him.

"Professor, this Priori Incantatem, does it mean that Harry saw the last people who had been killed by Voldemort?"

"Yes, indeed."

"Then how come he didn't see Cedric Diggory? Was he not killed by Voldemort himself?" I asked.

"Harry, did you use a spell on Cedric?" He addressed my brother again.

"I tried to paralyse him so Voldemort wouldn't go after him but I was too late."

"No, you were not. Your paralysing spell hit Mr Diggory before the killing curse did. Voldemort missed."

I think I might pass out right now. Was Dumbledore saying what I thought he was saying?

"You saved Mr Diggory's life, Harry."

"He's not dead?!" I choked out.

"No, Miss Potter, he is not. If you'd like to visit him, he's at the hospital ward."

Before Dumbledore had finished that sentence, I was already heading in that direction. As much as I wanted to believe his words, I would only let myself make them the truth when I see Cedric alive and well with my own two eyes.

I pushed open the doors of the hospital ward with a loud bang and Madam Pomfrey scolded me for it but I didn't care. My heart almost leaped out of my chest when I saw Cedric Diggory sitting on one of the beds, alive and well.

"Cedric?" I asked cautiously because it could have also been my mind playing tricks on me.

"Danny!" He smiled that bright smile of his and I knew for sure that it was him.

"You're alive." I breathed out before practically throwing myself at him.

"And apparently I have you and your brother to thank for it." He wrapped his arms around me.

Only then did I realise I was hugging the guy who I was supposed to stay away from but since he had been so close to dying yesterday and I had though for 24 hours that he really was dead, it didn't matter that much to me anymore. I pulled away again to check for sure that he had no injuries anymore.

"I really thought you were dead."

"Apparently you were not the only one. You should have seen how many people passed here to make sure I wasn't dead. My dad didn't even want to leave my side anymore." He smiled.

I was watching him in awe. I know Dumbledore just said that nothing could bring back the dead but this sure felt like it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He frowned.

"I just can't believe you're not dead." I whispered.

"Oh, were you afraid you'd never see me again?" He teased.

"Yes." I told him in all honestly and that seemed to surprise him.

I'm not usually that open about what I feel and think but since I almost didn't have the chance anymore to tell him so many things, I felt like wearing my heart on my sleeve for once.

I wish I could have stayed longer with Cedric but this was the last day of school and we had to say goodbye to the students of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. I would have to say goodbye to my classmates because my parents had arranged for me to stay at Hogwarts and return home with the Hogwarts Express. I had hoped to see this as an opportunity to talk to Cedric a little more because I still wanted to apologise for being so cold to him lately but apparently he would not go home on the train.

"_Danny, why aren't you packed yet?"_ Noa asked me when she saw me in the courtyard where students were saying goodbye to each other. _"We're leaving in an hour."_

"_I'm not going with you. I'm going home with the Hogwarts Express." _I told her.

"_Oh... I was kind of looking forward to the ride back with you. It'll be boring now." _She pouted a little.

I wasn't that disappointed about it. I'd rather stay here and keep an eye on my brother. I don't think I'll ever let him out of my sight again. He'll be having an awful summer this year.

"_Well, I guess we'll have to say goodbye now then." _Noa said. "_But we'll see each other again next year. We're used to spending the summer apart by now."_

I couldn't bear to tell her that I wasn't sure if we'd see each other again next year. As much as I love my best friend, I cannot leave Harry's side. Especially not now that Voldemort has returned. As soon as we get home, I will ask my parents to transfer to Hogwarts for our fifth year.

I said goodbye to my other friends without telling any of them that I didn't think we'd see each other again. I had been dreading the moment when I had to face Jonathan but at the end of the hour, he was the only one I had not yet said goodbye to.

"_Hi Jonathan."_ I smiled at him but it was not returned.

"_Danny, I have to discuss something with you."_

"_What is it?" _I played dumb but I already had a good idea what it is he wanted to talk about.

"_About you and the guy who almost died."_

I guess he's not talking about Harry.

"_What about Cedric?"_

"_Before he entered the maze, you were standing next to him. Why?"_

"_I wanted to wish him good luck."_

"_Did you not tell me you wouldn't speak to him again?!"_

"_Yes, and this is me taking it back." _I snapped.

I saw the shocked expression on his face, quickly change into that of anger.

"_You choose him?!"_

"_I choose me and the liberty to hang out with whoever I want. If that means I lose you in the process, so be it."_

"_Are you breaking up with me?"_

"_Yes."_

The fact that he was angry about him being dumped by me instead of being hurt that he had lost me, made me realise I had made the right choice. I'm still way too young to tie myself down to a guy who doesn't even let me be myself or let me hang out with whoever I want.

He didn't say anything anymore. He just looked angrily at me and then walked away. I would not be sad if I never saw him again even though it is sad that our relationship has ruined our friendship.

I watched all my friends get back into the carriage we had arrived in at the beginning of this year. So much has happened since then. I still waved at them until they all took off. I made my way in the crowd over to my brother. I stuck out like a sore thumb in my Beauxbaton uniform among all the Hogwarts students but at least this way Harry saw me coming. He was standing off the side with Granger and Weasley.

"Do you think we'll ever just have a quiet year at Hogwarts?" Weasley asked Harry.

"No." Granger and Harry said.

"Yeah, I don't think so. Oh well." Weasley shrugged.

I didn't understand how he could be so casual about everything that had happened this year but his behaviour brought a smile to Harry's face and for that I am grateful.

"Everything's going to change now, isn't it?" Granger suddenly said.

"Yes." Me and Harry said together though he might have said it a little gentler.

"Promise you'll write this summer, both of you." Granger looked at Harry and Weasley.

"I won't. You know I won't." Weasley responded.

"Harry will. Won't you?" She turned to my brother.

Good luck with that. He hardly writes me any letters during an entire school year and I'm his sister. There is no way he'll write to her.

"Yeah, every week." He smiled sarcastically.

I stayed to listen to my brother's casual talk with his friends. Was this my future for the next years? Tag along with Harry and his two friends who I can hardly stand? If it is to keep Harry safe, I'd gladly endure it.

I just pray that this is not what it would be like since one hour in the same compartment with Granger and Weasley had already driven me to the brick of insanity. All she does is criticize and all he does is act like the buffoon that he is. I soon announced to them that I was going to the toilet but honestly, it was just to get away from them.

I soon found another compartment which occupied the Weasley twin and a boy I had never seen before.

"Hello, my second favourite twins." I smiled when I entered the compartment.

"We were just going to say the same about you." Fred grinned.

"Mind if I sit here for a while. Your brother is driving me insane." I sat down next to the unknown boy.

"It will be our pleasure." George smiled.

"Hi, I'm Danny." I introduced myself to the boy I didn't know.

"I know who you are. I'm Lee."

"How come you know who I am?"

I had never met the boy before so how come he knew who I was? I'm not a celebrity like my brother and before I came to this school no one even knew Harry had a sister.

"I think everyone knows who you are after the last task. Not everyone fainted in the tribune." He smiled at me.

Great, now I would forever be known as the girl who fainted in the tribune. What an awesome way to make a reputation for myself at Hogwarts.

I stayed for the rest of the ride back to London in their compartment. The twins were just as much fun as I remembered them and Lee was a nice guy as well. They were two years older than me but that didn't seem to bother them. Fred and George told me once again about their big dream which was still very far away since they never saw the money they had won at the beginning of the year. They talked about the crazy experiments they were going to do this summer to come up with new inventions. Lee told me about his summer job. He was apparently the commentator at every Hogwarts Quidditch game and he would be doing the same this summer at a local Quidditch pitch. They all seemed to have made plans for this summer. I hadn't even thought I'd ever see the end of this year, let along the summer. I hadn't planned anything at all. But since Voldemort is resurrected, my plans for the summer aren't really a priority.

When we would arrive in London soon, I made my way back to my brother's compartment. I had a hard time finding it again, this train was way bigger than you'd expect. I actually had to ask someone where I could find Harry Potter but of course everyone knew where he was. Stalkers!

It was almost weird to see Granger and Weasley in normal clothes. I had already changed at the beginning of the ride because people kept staring when they saw me in the Beauxbatons uniform.

"Where have you been the entire ride?" Harry asked me but he didn't really seem very worried.

"I was with Fred, George and Lee." I told them before sitting down next to my brother.

"Figures you'd get along with the trouble makers of the school." Granger rolled her eyes.

I chose to ignore her because that's what I've been doing the entire year anyway, and for a good reason. The train finally stopped and we all took our trunks to get off. I already spotted my parents easily. Harry was still saying goodbye to his friends but I immediately hugged them.

"So how was the train ride?" Uncle Sirius grinned.

"Not very special or any different than the train ride from Paris to London." I shrugged.

My parents asked me a few things about the past school year so I at least had the illusion I just had a normal year. They did the same with Harry. They still talked to some parents but since I didn't know anyone to talk to I quickly got bored and eventually we went home.

I still had to tell my parents that I wanted to go to Hogwarts next year, instead of going back to Beauxbatons. But I thought I should tell Harry this first before I announced it to our parents. So when we both went to bed, I didn't enter my own room but followed him into his.

"Huh, Danny? You do know your room is across the hall, right?"

"Yes! I just needed to talk to you about something."

"Okay..."

"I know Voldemort is probably the last thing you want to talk about but I know for sure he's the one thing that's been on your mind non-stop."

He sighed because he knew I was right. When he sat down on his bed, I sat down next to him.

"I don't know what his plan is but I'm afraid it once again involves you." I told him. "I don't want to take any risks anymore. Voldemort had his minions in Hogwarts itself. You're not safe there."

"Are you once again going to suggest that I go to your school?" he said annoyed.

"No, because you don't want that and I respect that. But I won't let you go back to Hogwarts on your own."

"I won't be on my own, Danny. Hermione and Ron will be there."

I scoffed.

"I don't have enough faith in them to trust them with your safety. Which is why I'm going to Hogwarts next year."

He stared at me with open mouth.

"What? No, you don't want to do that."

"I do. I cannot take another year being away from you, not knowing if you're safe."

"But... you love Beauxbatons."

"It's just a school, Harry. You are my brother and that's worth so much more."

"Are you sure about this? You used to hate the prospect of going to Hogwarts with me."

"I was eleven. People change."

He didn't seem to believe me but stopped fighting my decision.

"Did you tell mum and dad?

"They'll understand."

I was sure they would. They are just as worried about Harry's safety as I am and we all can't deny the fact that Harry calling out to me in times of need is something that could help him. It would be even more practical if I had a body to help him but we'll worry about that when the time is near. For now I'll just watch Harry like a hawk and pray that he won't fall victim to Voldemort again next year.

_So incredibly weak of me but I just couldn't kill of Cedric. I still have a part for him in mind. :) Hope you loved this story and will follow the sequel as well. Let me know what you thought of it? _

_THE SEQUEL 'OUR RESISTANCE' IS UP NOW! _


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